[atsonicpark]

 

Q AND NOT U "NO KILL NO BEEP BEEP"
Dischord, 2000

When I first heard this album way back when, I thought, 'This is what Fugazi SHOULD sound like.' I like Fugazi okay enough, but I can honestly say that this takes their formula -- two interlocking guitars playing unconventional riffs, obscure and vaguely political lyrics, complex energetic strangely-structured songs -- and does something better with it. There's not a single bad song on here, not a single song I skip, and even though I think this album has gotten a decent amount of recognition upon its first release, it seems to have been kind of forgotten by now (correct me if I'm wrong). In fact, I remember when it first came out, more people were excited about the excellent-but-not-quite-as-good Faraquet album that came out at the same time. ANYWAY, this album has one of the best first halfs of a record ever: The odd-guitar-workout "Fever Sleeves", the mixtape staple "Hooray for Humans", and the AMAZING "we Heart Our Hive" are mindblowing. I don't really have much to say. If you like creative guitar-based music, check it out. Though most of you probably have. A few interesting things about Q and Not U. I saw this band either the day after or a few days after their bassist left, and they mainly played new songs, which were okay, but they also played about 4 songs off of this album which were TERRIBLE. No kidding -- there'd either be no bass or just one guitar, and it really showed. I felt bad for them, but it also seemed to carry over to their next two albums. "Different Damage", I think, is a very very mediocre record, maybe even bad. I hated it at the time and only mildly like it now. "Power" was a lot better but still didn't match the, um, power of this record. Another weird thing is that all their albums were released in October every 2 years and each one had a single released right before it. They never broke that tradition, which I find kind of interesting. Also, is it just me or is Ian Mackaye's production EXCELLENT? The production on "No Kill No Beep Beep" is astounding. He should produce more instead of saying "don't smoke cigarettes."

[HaydenAsche]

Fucking awesome album, dude. The only Q record I really ever listen to anymore.

I've never liked them. I still have some of their records that I'd gladly get rid off and I probably will when I am doing spring-cleaning.

[batreleaser]

id say q and not u are an average band to me, but this ablum is a great listen. but the fugazi thing, id take repeater, the arguement, or in on the kill taker over this any day.

[uhler]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

 

Q AND NOT U "NO KILL NO BEEP BEEP"
Dischord, 2000

When I first heard this album way back when, I thought, 'This is what Fugazi SHOULD sound like.' I like Fugazi okay enough, but I can honestly say that this takes their formula -- two interlocking guitars playing unconventional riffs, obscure and vaguely political lyrics, complex energetic strangely-structured songs -- and does something better with it. There's not a single bad song on here, not a single song I skip, and even though I think this album has gotten a decent amount of recognition upon its first release, it seems to have been kind of forgotten by now (correct me if I'm wrong). In fact, I remember when it first came out, more people were excited about the excellent-but-not-quite-as-good Faraquet album that came out at the same time. ANYWAY, this album has one of the best first halfs of a record ever: The odd-guitar-workout "Fever Sleeves", the mixtape staple "Hooray for Humans", and the AMAZING "we Heart Our Hive" are mindblowing. I don't really have much to say. If you like creative guitar-based music, check it out. Though most of you probably have. A few interesting things about Q and Not U. I saw this band either the day after or a few days after their bassist left, and they mainly played new songs, which were okay, but they also played about 4 songs off of this album which were TERRIBLE. No kidding -- there'd either be no bass or just one guitar, and it really showed. I felt bad for them, but it also seemed to carry over to their next two albums. "Different Damage", I think, is a very very mediocre record, maybe even bad. I hated it at the time and only mildly like it now. "Power" was a lot better but still didn't match the, um, power of this record. Another weird thing is that all their albums were released in October every 2 years and each one had a single released right before it. They never broke that tradition, which I find kind of interesting. Also, is it just me or is Ian Mackaye's production EXCELLENT? The production on "No Kill No Beep Beep" is astounding. He should produce more instead of saying "don't smoke cigarettes."

yeah, great album. they're not as forgotten as faraquet. hipsters and scenesters liked/like this because you could dance to it. i think the faraquet album came out a couple years before this. ian mackaye has produced a shitload of good stuff. he has produced more albums than he has played on. i don't think he goes around saying don't smoke cigarettes. that was like 25 years ago.

[batreleaser]

ian mackaye should say fuck it to the evens and be a full time producer. id like to see him produce a record by usaisamonster, i think thatd be interesting.

[Everyneurotic]

good album, i listen to it from time to time, i like the variety in it.

[Sonic Youth 37]

Very good album. My favorite Q and Not U record. The bass on the album is some of the best of it's kind ever.

[Pax Americana]

Great album. I love Q And Not U.

[batreleaser]

i listened to it today, this thread reminded me of it, it had some fuckin amazing melodies on it. great vocals too.

[atsonicpark]

No, the Faraquet album ("View from this Tower") came out a few months before this album.

But anyway, yeah, this album rules. Seriously, the guitar interplay on "Hooray for Humans"!

[uhler]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

No, the Faraquet album ("View from this Tower") came out a few months before this album.

But anyway, yeah, this album rules. Seriously, the guitar interplay on "Hooray for Humans"!

yeah you're right, for some reason i thought otherwise.

[Rob Instigator]

never heard this album. never heard of this band. will check it out, although I think it ios a bit foolish to make an album that is less than ten years old a CLASSIC.

[GravitySlips]

to me this album is just ok. not bad, but i much prefer faraquet if we're comparing.

and to be honest, ALL fugazi albums tear it apart imo.

[batreleaser]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

never heard this album. never heard of this band. will check it out, although I think it ios a bit foolish to make an album that is less than ten years old a CLASSIC.

why?

[Rob Instigator]

why?

because less than 10 years, or even 15 years or more, is not enough time to see whether an album holds up.

just being GOOD is not enough for clasic status. It needs to be influential. It needs it's musical ideas to still sound great and fresh. It needs to be experienced apart from it's initial rush of "yeah I like this!"

an album from 8 years ago that people still listen to is a good sign, but an album that is twenty years old that people still find and discover and is timeless is a true classic.

If by classic album we mean a record that stands the test of time and goes on to hop-over times, trends, changes in taste etc, I believe that there are few records that deserve that title from start to finish.

Giving a record classic status is more often an award that has linguistic value, rather than a factual one. An erroneous modern practice it is too.

A record is a record, it has all too often limited scope of influence on human activity as a whole, therefore its universal appeal is limited, no matter how good it might be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, music is a thing that gives joy and alleviates the malaise of the soul, therefore its job is done without continuously having to be allocated a specific position in history unremarkably, unless the critical approach assests its importance in the most accurate and thourough of ways and takes the social context it came from as a starting point.

[uhler]

Originally Posted by GravitySlips

to me this album is just ok. not bad, but i much prefer faraquet if we're comparing.

and to be honest, ALL fugazi albums tear it apart imo.

i think the album is great, but yeah, every fugazi album does tear it apart (to quote slayer) "piece by piece!"

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by sarramkrop

If by classic album we mean a record that stands the test of time and goes on to hop-over times, trends, changes in taste etc, I believe that there are few records that deserve that title from start to finish.

Giving a record classic status is more often an award that has linguistic value, rather than a factual one. An erroneous modern practice it is too.

A record is a record, it has all too often limited scope of influence on human activity as a whole, therefore its universal appeal is limited, no matter how good it might be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, music is a thing that gives joy and alleviates the malaise of the soul, therefore its job is done without continuously having to be unremarkably allocated a specific position in history, unless the critical approach assests its importance in the most accurate and thourough of ways and takes the social context it came from as a starting point.

that is the whole point. to assign "classic" status to just any album you like a lot is ridiculous and the term "classic" loses all meaning.

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

that is the whole point. to assign "classic" status to just any album you like a lot is ridiculous and the term "classic" loses all meaning.

Yes. The term ''classic'' is so often used with colloquial abandon that it makes it harder to understand what it means.