A Good Story: Randy Randall of No Age (Part I)

The guitar-effects specialist talks being young, brash, and invincible

Weirdo rippers: Dean Spunt and Randy Randall of No Age

A Good Story is a RIOTRIOT feature where an artist tells a good one about each of their records.

Somehow, modestly — not a descriptor normally applied to conceptual artists or L.A. punk bands — Los Angeles duo No Age has amassed once of the most casually perfect discographies in all of indie-rock. Drummer/singer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall’s workmanlike DIY pedigrees have grounded to them to a pure love of sound that steamrolls anything else in their way. Thus, their records lead with riffs and noises you’ll remember as hooks more than any standalone choruses or singalong moments (though they do have them: “I want you back underneath my skin” from 2010’s “Glitter” recalls Archers of Loaf’s immortal “All I ever wanted was to be your spine”).

In 2008, sheer enthusiasm for this type of sound design mixed with two-chord “Roadrunner” energy was enough to net their first proper album Nouns both a 9.2 from Pitchfork and a Grammy nod for its extravagant physical layout. These days they still make reliably great records with quietly intriguing visuals without being nearly as close to the center of attention, and I suspect letting the music do the talking (literally as even their vocals are mixed kinda low) does them no favors in a meme and main character economy.

But No Age have yet to make a record that’s not at least very good front-to-back, and their steadfast quality control should be studied just like their riff-sample symbiosis. RIOTRIOT spoke to Randy Randall via phone about virtually everything: from his effects pedals to the elaborate packaging concepts that made the band stand out from their very first move.