Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
One of the beauties of life is that occasionally you get to hear a sound that you are pretty sure you have never heard before. For the audiophile, the melomaniac, or even the one who walks through the forest listening for the brave late call of a lesser spotted bird as it hunts for its dinner, the cause in which they search is for something new that catches their ears is the reason for harmony, for enlightenment, for a sense of truth in a world that insists that there is nothing new under the sun.
Friends Like These, a sound of conversation, of structure, of the driving insanity that details human existence, and of the growl that makes the listener sit up and take notice in the same way as if somehow by accident of Time you were in the presence of the formation of the Universe, the Big Bang, the moment when the real new set the darkness alight; and with No Captains at the wheel, finding the source of this novel, positive, reverberating sound is one that the journey will be a delight.
No Captains might not yet have the British ear, but that will surely change with their fourth studio album, Friends Like These, an album that is not afraid to roar into the void and allow the echo to answer back with a fierce reply, a crash of introspection, and the vibration of an audio scene that would not be out of place in the presence, the spotlight, of the Film Noir and classic Horror films.
Through tracks such as Never Been Named, Donut Theory, the superb Wrinkle In Slime, the excellent Quit Your Job, Sirens, and 2 Left Feet, the San Francisco Metal rockers swagger with intent and purpose, and leave the mind exhilarated, the soul enthused, and the heart, well that symbol of love and affection, that muscle takes the audio friends you have and gives them a dynamic charge, a shock to the system that is adored, welcome, and full of strength.
Friends Like These is class, an unexpected delivery, a wake-up call when you realise you have been wallowing in the beige and the bargain everyday sound for too long; and with friends like these, you realise that your enemies don’t matter.
Ian D. Hall