Formed by Christian Vogel out of the stagnant techno scene, you�ll be forgiven for thinking NOTB are the latest conscripts to the Klaxons led nu-rave fad. One listen to this and you�ll be very surprised.
There are no traces of ironic rave homage, instead we have an avant garde album sounding more like Sonic Youth, Pixies and Radiohead with a dash of Hot Chip as garnish. This is more alternative-meets-jazz and there isn�t an ironically brandished glo-stick in sight.
The cheekily entitled Golden Shower Song kicks off the album and is one of the most accessible and straightforward songs. The follow up, Ghosts, is a slightly weaker track echoing Queens of the Stone Age�s Feelgood Hit Of The Summer with it�s constant cries of amphetamine glory. It�s aggression seems a little out of place on an album that is otherwise generally chilled and dream like.
The vocals on The Theme echo Frank Black and there�s more than a touch of Kim Deal about the bassline. It�s a superb track which pushes the multi layered experimentation without sacrificing the mood it�s trying to create. The other tracks are just as strong and the clearly enjoy pushing themselves to the limits.
Whilst there�s plenty of influences on show NOTB thankfully don�t let any particular ones dominate. Couple this with the fact that it was written and recorded in Barcelona and you�ll find that this does sound pleasingly different from what you�d expect. If Dali and Picasso had a band, they�d probably sound a lot like this.
This album is definitely a grower. I must confess I was slightly underwhelmed the first time around ,but a couple of listens have drawn me in. However, whilst there are some great moments of experimentation, there�s also a few duff moments too which could have done with smoothing out a little. There are a lot of subtle pleasures to be had with this album, but it�s fair to say that Wear This World Out leaves your brain suitably washed where it should have been scrambled.