Slated for a May 9th release on a number of DIY labels, Magic Hour Records (AUS), Rufen Publishings (JAP), Softseed Music (USA/CAN), Time as a Color (GER), SNCL (UK), Polar Summer (RUS) and Salto Mortale Music (SLV), the newest split from Daniel Becker (aka AMID THE OLD WOUNDS, also of Time As A Color label) and Australian long-running undeground indie emo punks NO ACTION will feature 2 new recordings per each artist, and today, we’re pleased to give you the first taste – the new single from NO ACTION dubbed “III”.
NO ACTION’s new single, a haunting symphony from Adelaide’s emo realm, summons the ethereal specters of The Hated, Evergreen, Hüsker Dü, and Comet Gain. With a relentless, pulsating rhythm, this emotional punk rock jam accelerates through the depths of human sentiment. Veiled in a mist of slightly distorted vocals, the organic essence of its sound resonates with the raw, untamed spirit of a truly honest offering. This ephemeral, simply crafted, yet hearty and genuine, “III” unfolds its poignant narrative in a mere two minutes, leaving listeners wanting more.
We sat down with band members John (guitar), Lewis (vocalist) and Jonno (singer) to learn a bit more.
Can you speak to your background in alt punk/emo music, and how has this influenced your current work? Could you please take a moment to reflect on the band’s early days, and how you have grown and evolved over the years?
(John) No Action formed in 2009 with the view to do a band with the sonic and emotional resonance of bands like The Hated, Husker Du and One Last Wish, crossed with the kitchen sink inspired world view of more shambolic DIY indie bands from the UK like Comet Gain and Boyracer who fetishised the 7″ format and put out records to be treasured. We jammed and recorded demos in my living room at Marino Rocks and by 2010 had became very active in Adelaide, playing house parties and shows with our friends bands with a frequency of what seemed like every weekend.
Since we started the range bands we take influence from has probably expanded beyond the realms of revolution summer (see the bands covered on the Long March Through The Institutions Tapes we did a couple years ago). Having said that I am revisiting the Hated at the moment with their reissues on Numero.
How has the emo scene in Adelaide evolved over the years, and what impact has it had on your music?
(John) I think generally it has followed trends coming out of the US, though the early 2000s was a particularly formative period for me. Bands like St. Alban’s Kids, Eyes Like Black Stars, and Love Like… Electrocution who centred around the Building Records label that was briefly based in Adelaide were influenced by popular strains of screamo and post-hardcore like Orchid and Hot Cross.
Adelaide the time was going through an enormous metalcore phase, off the back of I Killed the Prom Queen’s meteoric rise to fame. The bands on Building Records seemed like a bit of an antithesis to what was going on in that scene at the time.
Whilst Melbourne and Sydney had bands like Eucalypt and Majorca who in the mid-late 2000s took cues from what was going on in Europe (La Quiete, Sed Non Satiata etc.).
That trend mostly skipped Adelaide, and it wasnt till the so called “emo revival” arrived that bands from Adelaide once again began dabbling in the genre such as Raccoon City Police Department or Nick’s old band Weightless.
In addition to No Action, have you been involved in any other music projects over the years, and how have these experiences shaped your musical style?
(John) Member of No Action have been playing in local bands for the past 20 years.
Here are some of note: Impede, Wet Cloth, The Steelers, Letter Cow, Snake Run, Sledge Hammer, Weightless, Sim Fuckers, Future Farm, The Yabbies, The Battery Kids, Enthusiasm Police, McQueen, Starlight Lucifer, Vaginors, Starvation, Cum, The Uglies, Post War, Museum of Natural History, Turbogoblin RX, Paddington Bear Affair, Guerrilla Monsoon, The Weenies, Nebraska, Hutt River Province, Swan Districts, PI-Network/(Deluxe), DOS & Diamond Life.
Can you tell us about how you connected with Daniel, and what inspired your new co-release?
(John) My old band Nebraska traded copies of our 7″ with Daniel and we’ve been in touch ever since.
Nebraska featured on two Time as a Color compilations and his label also helped release the split 12″ with Diplomat.
Daniel has a real creative flare and is committed to the DIY ethic, he hand assembles everything, and consequently his records look amazing. When he suggested a split with his new project we were quick to agree.
Your new tracks showcase a lyrical evolution in your content. Could you provide us with a track-by-track commentary on these new songs and what they mean to you?
(Lewis) One song is rather old and can be traced back to the founding of No Action. It’s probably a fairly reflexive word dump about the angst of not having an eye for detail, nor having yet the wisdom to construct context around any cluster of details. Alienated by the sheer breadth of human knowledge, impenetrable and prefering to run on instinct.
The newer track has allusions to how we enjoy or suffer culture, low or high brow. And how we live, sweat and breathe in clannish delight and almighty judgements over who and what is worthy and what the aestheticly pleasing life looks like.
The process has changed very little over the years, I try to use my ears more and serve the melody before anything else there’s no real predetermined content to write about and I always suffer or warp things when dictated a theme or concept which rarely happens anyway. While trying to ‘serve the melody’ I find most No Action songs end up far more cerebral than I’d like and it can seem a little embarrassing that I can’t just write a ‘wild thing’ or ‘brown eyed girl’. I maybe mistaken but I feel it all the more difficult to steer toward that simplicity and relatability when I rarely touch or am allowed to touch any of the arrangements, but perhaps that will change in the future, perhaps that will never be us. No Action; born cereberal living and dying by the quill.
Which up-and-coming local bands, labels, zines, or other music-related projects would you recommend for audiences to check out in 2023?
Bands: The Condos
Labels: Divine Severance
>Zines/Books: Not Adelaide but ‘You‘ zine from Melbourne’s 20 year plus commitment to the craft is inspiring.
