Creating an underground sensation and taking it across the
country, three piece NO play a mixture between punk rock and something that
sounds like it came from the 1980’s underground.
A combination between bands like The Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, Mudhoney, and the pop sensibility of punk bands like The Sex Pistols, The Misfits (without the horror angle) and The Ramones, NO released their debut record, “Can You Dig It?” Twelve songs full of poppy, punky, garage, guitar rocking songs that can make a fan of any of those genres go into cardiac arrest.
Every song on this record is a cool combination of a guitar sound that splits between Gregg Ginn, Billy Gibbons, and East Bay Ray without losing that punky edge that NO sets out to have. They kick into it right off the bat and keep with that flow all the way through the record.
A perfect example is in the title track “Can You Dig It?” jumping from the groovy guitar licks to the dancing bass line to the tight drumming. Another song on the A side of the record that gives NO! a slight Dead Kennedys feel is “Enemies of Fun;” an eerie East Bay Ray/Dead Kennedys intro that explodes into something like The Exploited would’ve come up with. Instead it was Carlo Freeze and the rest of NO that give a great two minute blast of energy and aggression that ends the A side of the record.
Side B of “Can You Dig It?” is no different. It’s punk, it’s raw, and it’s energetic. A song like “More Brains” releases all of that with big Black Flag style riffs, hardcore undertones, screaming guitars, a loud tight rhythm section, and lyrics that talk about losing faith in humanity, all wrapped up into a minute and twenty five seconds.
Bands like NO prove that punk is not dead - as a matter of fact here in Connecticut it is alive and well. NO and their debut record “Can You Dig It?“ is a perfect example of why punk isn’t dead and how Connecticut produces great bands. Look into NO before they go on tour again and leave the Nutmeg State behind. You heard it here; these guys are going to be huge.
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