It is always exciting to see a local band take a big step forward, and LA-based sextet NO have made a significant one with the release of their debut album, El Prado. It is not merely being a debut that makes the record noteworthy - it's also a fully formed statement, played with skill and conviction that belies the band's relative youth.
With echoes of The National or the less synthy New Order songs, NO chug along with darkly beautiful soundscapes. Singer Bradley Hanan Carter's sonorous voice floats a hair's breath above the ground, keeping the songs tethered to earth, but still implying the vastness of the horizon. From the album's opener, "Leave the Door Wide Open," you can tell you're in capable hands, with the kind of rock music that is powerful and emotional, yet doesn't wring the listener out by the record's end, thus inspiring multiple listens in the years to come. Hometown heroes, we salute you!
-ERIC J. LAWRENCE
Track List:
1. Leave the Door Wide Open
2. Stay with Me
3. What's Your Name
4. Monday
5. So Scared
6. There's A Glow
7. Interlude
8. Another Life
9. The Long Haul
10. North Star
11. Last Chance
12. Hold On
13. Go Outside
Photo by Casey Bennet, courtesy of the artist