Opener ‘Made You Look’ sets the tone, a noisy, frenetic song with all its glorious imperfections left in. “The temperature is rising in the room”, sings bassist Elana, “more people file in, it doesn’t get any better”, before a headlong dive into what proves a celebration of live music and all its energy and joy. ‘Any Minute’ is slightly more restrained but no less upbeat, the chirpy guitars and skipping percussion sounding like a UK twee-pop band who have packed up the xylophone and taken their amps into a garage. The lyrics are surprisingly sombre however, like the downer thoughts of a self-conscious teen:

“What a way to start the day,
Man, my gums are really sore.
I could use my body but,
I don’t really know what for.

I could wake up any minute

Tried to stay still to recall my dreams.
The last thing I saw was a baby you.
Are we ever gonna feel like friends?
Are you even trying to?”

If ‘Any Minute’ was two-tone, then ‘Cold Wet Towel Blues’ is out-and-out miserable (“I cry alone with my stories and these ‘Cold Wet Towel Blues’ / On the phone with my girlfriends, I’ve smoked away the afternoon”). Even here though, the misery is framed in a nostalgic fondness, an adolescent pride in being fucked up for a while, a pleasant, self-indulgent melancholy that will pass as day becomes night. Indeed, ‘Vague Rant’ sees things pick up again, the song heavier and with the killer sing-along chorus (Feeling like a vagrant! Vagrant! Vague rant!), and ‘UR = UO’ is similarly defiant, packed with the uncompromising punk attitude and social critique:

“You spent it all, there’s no escape.
What once was shelter is now just real estate.

Don’t act brand new, you know what it is!
Dig your own grave and then teach your kids

I’m not throwing “slave” around, but know you’re no one without something to sell. I’m not telling you your life. I’m just showing you my hell. You are what you owe”

‘Book’ is another track which captures the live experience, Elana and Philip’s vocals rising through the drums without ever quiet breaking the surface, not so much fighting the instrumentation but surrendering to its energy. Closer ‘Ska’s Not Dead’ is an ode to the punk/ska phase that all punk players go through (at least according to No Touching’s Bandcamp page). The track uses some cool nicknames and phrases to create a surprisingly vivid picture of people clinging on to old passions, with Skinhead Ray in his Old Rude Van taking the narrator down memory lane with a trip to see The English Beat. “Ska’s not dead. No! Ska’s not dead,” shouts Ray, “SKA WILL NEVER BE DEAD TO ME”.

You can buy Look now from the No Touching Bandcamp page. Be sure to check out their previous releases while you’re there.

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