The None drop their latest EP ‘Care’
London noise-rock outfit The None is clearly charged with restless creative energy. Only six months after their debut EP Matter, in comes their latest effort Care brandishing another blast of complex hardcore that sees the band’s belligerent snarl undimmed, albeit not surpassing previous levels of punk intensity. A composite of various band members across Bloc Party, Blue Ruth, Cassels and Frauds who found their sound through the baptism of fire of boldly playing live shows with rudimentary material behind them and no releases.
This well-honed synchronicity between The None is captured on Care as it was with Matter, pushed to the fore with its brute live takes and scant over-dubbing. This unrefined bristle hits hard, Gordon Moake’s jagged bass and Chris Francombe’s percussive pummel all possessed with weighty heft, a blistering dynamic and texture you can almost touch and taste, spiked with extra volatility from Jim Beck’s angular guitar.
Such a bruising juggernaut requires a frontperson of sturdy force to harness and wield the heavy post-punk attack, but thankfully, vocalist Kai Whyte jumps from Blue Ruth’s synths and electronics to sole possession of the mic with aplomb, embracing the unreined freedom of pouring all their energy into impassioned lyrical spits against poverty, identity, and political collapse with visceral potency.
Whyte never muscles their way front and centre of The None, however, sharing an equally pugnacious sonic harmony with the rest of the band a little like a post-hardcore Damo Suzuki, less a singer and more a presence. honouring their name and agenda of ensuring a strictly egalitarian outfit unclouded by ego.
The heady brew of styles congeal well with their disjointed grooves that lurk behind Care‘s attack. ‘Assembly’ veers into alternative rock territory replete with dramatic melodic stir, and ‘Rusty Roads’ adds a digital crunch to their onslaught, all welcome smatters of clashing sonics that pepper the EP. These teases leave one wanting more, as their blunt exercise in unfussy wallop can nag with a feeling of a missing ingredient, a nobly stripped-down affair with greater power in reach if there’s a touch more meat on the bones.
While anchored in Matter‘s familiar territory, Care boasts raw power but no surprises, but with such an elemental approach to their craft perhaps The None’s explosive ephemerality leaves the creative and mental bandwidth with little else than the four members creating a racket. It’s not a giant leap forward, but another slice of stinging melodic punk the initiated will expect, Care packs a punch and no doubt will serve as a blueprint for a great debut album.
The band are clearly a force on a mission—that much is clear live, and Care seems to be a statement of increasingly assured intent in the studio, too.
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