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None More Black - Icons

Rating

RIYL

Kid Dynamite
Dead to Me
The Lawrence Arms

Release Date

10/26/2010

Label

Fat Wreck Chords

Tracklist

1. "Mr. Artistic"
2. "StillsSternLange&Norris"
3. "Cupcake Wednesday"
4. "Here Comes Devereux"
5. "I'm Warning You with Peace & Love"
6. "When Mickey Died"
7. "Iron Mouth Act"
8. "Sinatra After Dark"
9. "Backpedal"
10. "Gary Page One in Pink"
11. "Budapest Gambit"

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Recent Ratings
Firebrandead	tim

In our age of instant online gratification and one-song-a-month release plans, people tend to forget about bands in a shorter span of time than it takes to finish downloading their leaked album. You have to be ballsy to release only three albums in ten years of active existence, and if you could only say one thing about scene veterans None More Black, it’s that they have huevos. With their third album in a long, shifting decade, Icons, proves that NMB is a band that still matters.

Some people might only know None More Black as vocalist Jason Shevchuk’s post Kid Dynamite band. While Shevchuk’s previous band from the city of brotherly love is considered holy by many punk rock aficionados, they were a relatively one-sided affair. Blaze through a short, dirty song with rolling drums, buzz saw guitars and vitriolic screeches, and you have pretty much every Kid Dynamite song ever written. But where Shevchuk’s old work reveled in taking a simple formula and honing it to perfection, on Icons, None More Black are much more interested in stepping over boundaries and working in as many interesting ideas they can while still keeping it firmly grounded in the punk rock family tree.

Yes, every song just uses two guitars, a bass, drums and some venomous vocals, but the band proves themselves to be wizards at taking these ingredients and doing as many tricks with them as they can. As dirty and gritty as the production and recording style feels, you can’t help but get the feeling that these songs were put together meticulously. With tons of tempo changes, riff rehashes and false endings, they feel incredibly well-developed. And like all great songs, they aren’t just a mixture of everything these guys can think to throw in. Instead, different, unexpected parts and insane dynamics come together to create soundscapes that can range between joyous and bouncy (“Cupcake Wednesday) to tight and claustrophobic (“Iron Mouth Act”) to demented happiness (“Gary Page One In Pink”).

The tracks on this album tend to range from bouncy, major key pop-punk jams, to angry, fast hardcore to mid-tempo numbers that explore as many dynamics as they can. “Backpedal” and “Cupcake Windows” keep it light with simple chord progressions that put the focus on the strong vocal melodies, with the latter song throwing in a funky riff during the chorus that elicits memories of the best parts in “99 Luftballoons”. The triple-meter “Here Comes Devereux” plays with some oldies rhythms before moving into an urgent outro that throws in some choppy dynamics. Closer “Budapest Gambit” and “Sinatra After Dark” rage along at quick tempos and heavy, filthy tones that make you feel worn out at the end of the songs. Shevchuk’s raw vocals at the end of “Budapest Gambit” reach new levels of intensity towards the close of the song where he just ends up barking incoherently. “Mr. Artistic” and “Iron Mouth Act” takes time to explore every facet of the main riffs the songs give, and utilize chaotic and busy instrumentation to create a frantic and claustrophobic feeling.

There are only two minor complaints to be found. The first is that while everything on Icons is done remarkably well, it doesn’t do anything particularly unique. The only way they stand out from other bands is that they do play and write proficiently, but this is more than enough to garner repeat listens. The second minor complaint is that the album is a bit of grower and took me a few listens to truly appreciate. No part of the album is catchy in the traditional sense, but they trade this in for depth, which this album has in spades. I get the feeling I’ll be finding new things to love on this release for a long time to come

With the ridiculously solid Icons, None More Black are throwing themselves back into the ring and showing all the rookies how to do it right. Let’s just hope they don’t take another four years to release their next album.

--Stephen Harris