Photo by SEAN CALDWELL
Los Angeles art-punk duo No Age played a sold out show last night at PhilaMOCA in support of their new album, An Object. “We love this town,” declared vocalist/drummer Dean Spunt a few songs into their set, drawing a voluble audience response. “It’s been a while.” Spunt and guitarist/singer Randy Randall had bodies in motion — and often in collision with other bodies — from the get go, but things went full-tilt during “Glitter” (from 2010’s Everything In Between) and “Teen Creeps” (from 2008’s Nouns). New songs like “C’mon, Stimmung” and “No Ground” resonated as well as the duo struck just the right ratio of distortion of propulsion to keep PhilaMOCA throbbing. Spunt thanked the crowd after just about every song but didn’t waste much time between numbers with idle banter. Randall melted into the crowd at one point, leaning into its motion and invigorating its response. No Age manages to generate a surprisingly full and powerful sound from just drums, guitar and a sampler, and other than some vocal mic issues, laid down an almost perfect set, with just the right mix of the old and the new. The rendition of “Boy Void” (from 2007’s Weirdo Rippers) was excellently urgent and the seemingly last-minute inclusion of “Everybody’s Down” gave us all one last rush of buzz-fed adrenaline before sending us out into the good night. — SEAN CALDWELL