Nothing Band – Descension / Digestion
9.20.18 by Ryan Masteller

The following screenshot is of a conversation between me and my wife (read: my wiiiiiiiife). She was at one end of the house watching television with her sister; I was in my office at the other end.

God bless her.

I on the other hand can see through the screeching – or rather HEAR through it. Because it’s not all screeching, not to those who have trained their ears to appreciate the nuance of each sonic decision. See, for people like me – basement dwellers with no real ambition in life other than to pick apart other people’s artistic decisions to make themselves feel better for quitting bands forever after their college math-rock quartet dissolved seventeen years ago and who now weep openly whenever they play June of 44 records (which is almost never anymore because of the constant weeping) – where was I? Oh yeah – for people like me, we just get it, dude.

I like how Nothing Band is described as a “deconstructionist rock project”; the man behind it, Max Nordile, sure can scatter about the elements of traditional rock-n-roll as if they were piles of toys in a child’s room. Then, Nordile-as-child rolls around in the toys, flailing his limbs as he thrashes about, all while his Toy Story Mr. Mike Voice Changer Tape Recorder (only $175) records in the background, capturing every crash and bellow.

But Nordile’s not a kid, and Nothing Band is not a joke, so strangled guitar, Neanderthal percussion, and growls and hollers punctuate the recording, turning Mr. Mike’s happy smile into a terrified grimace. Still, Nordile’s got a great sense of humor – check out some of these amazingly worded subjects of his vitriol: “Mute Crooks Sell Good Luck,” “Hippie Gestures,” “Flag Business” (I stand for the flag!), “Gods Are Food,” “Jar of Piss” (which sadly is not a cheeky full-EP cover of Alice in Chains’s “Jar of Flies”), and “Policy Wonks.” So what you end up with is an abrasively entertaining record from a musician who cut his teeth in “avant skronk-punk bands” and on no wave. Is it pleasant? Well, if you’re asking that, you’re missing the point.

Time to debug your Paypal account and head on over to Decoherence Records to get one of these nasty beauts!