Artists starting with N

Who Stole My Generation?

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Night Beats, “Who Stole My Generation?” (Heavenly, 2016)
With the recent surge in leftist activism, it’s a surprise more psych-garage-punksters haven’t revived that style’s ‘60s street-fighting mode, but here’s some that have. The reverb-heavy choogle of their debut remains, but with a new sense of tension and space that erupts in sporadic bursts of distortion and rants. These guys have got the spirit, alright.
Try 3, 6
4/17/16

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Shake-A-Body

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Neverever, “Shake-A-Body” (Slumberland, 2012)
Slumberland puts out a lot of nice Spector/girl-group-inflected guitar-noise-pop, but this one is particularly intriguing. The lead chanteuse has a really powerful, expressive smoky/mysterious voice, and the songs conjure up subtle moods, from effervescent to darkly melancholic, in a sound that’s both genuinely “period” and contemporary.
Try 4, 5
1/29/12

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Neu!

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Neu!, “Neu!” (Astralwerks, 2001; original release 1972)
Debut from the legendary Krautrock duo with their unique, circularly loping “motoric” beat. The template is Velvets-like repetitive strum/drone, but replacing the VU’s subterranean menace with a soaring, sublime clarity.
Try 1, 3
2/21/16

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Neu! 2

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Neu!, “Neu! 2” (Astralwerks, 2001; original release, 1973)
Pretty similar to the first one – some gently propulsive minimalist soundscapes, same Velvetsesque rhythm guitar kinetics filtered through kaleidoscopic studio effects. But this is more beautifully blissed out.
Try 1
2/21/16

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Sooner or Later

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Neo-Boys, “Sooner or Later” (K, 2013; original recordings 1978-1983)
At last the work of this pioneering PacNorthwest punk act is issued, and I had no idea there was this much of it, or that it was this great. It has the manic choppiness and rad-political edge of similar all-female acts in the post-punk diaspora (Liliput, Au Pairs, Bush Tetras, etc.) but with an ingenuous rock-and-roll freshness an dmystery very much of its region, harking back to the Fleetwoods while foreshadowing Beat Happening and Bikini Kill.
Try 1/9, 1/21, 2/6, 2/9
1/23/14

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Recovery

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Neighborhood Brats, “Recovery” (Deranged, 2014)
New full-length from this female-fronted act plying the borderlands of garage-punk and old-school-L.A.-style melodic hardcore. Wall-rattling treble guitar driven by frantically caroming drums provide a backdrop for feral vocals telling tales of urban desperation.
Try 1/ 4, 1/ 5, 1/ 6, 2/ 1, 2/ 2, 2, 6
8/16/15

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No Sun No Ta

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Neighborhood Brats, “No Sun No Tan (Deranged, 2013)
Current, female-fronted punk band in a late-‘70s West-Coast style – compressed, snarling, and melodic, with serrated guitar sound and a snotty attitude. Excellent stuff with a tossed-off sensibility that actually feel really contemporary.
Try 1/3, 1, 5.
9/6/13

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Nearly God

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Nearly God, “Nearly God” (Island, 1996)
Robert Christgau wrote that this Tricky side project “achieves the stasis true Tricky albums only flirt with,” and while he meant this to indicate that the man had gone off the rails here, I actually think it captures the thrillingly creepy way Tricky used the freedom of not having his name on the thing to get to the most alien essence of his whole deal. Loping New York breakbeats slowed to a tortuous crawl that has you gritting your teeth as you watch and wait for the gears to turn, great sheets of echoing synth like dirt-flecked glaciers cut suddenly through a song and bring it to a halt, family 80s pop icons like Alf Moyet and Terry Hall take vocal turns like tiny figures in soundscapes that evoke the green-lit fever dreams of dying alcoholics. Heroic shit.
Try 2 4
3/18/18

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Surf ‘n’ Turf

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Natural Child/Guantanamo Baywatch, “Surf ‘n’ Turf” (Suicide Squeeze, 2013)
I’m not sure the world was ready for a garage-punk answer to Jimmy Buffett, but here it is, and I quite like it. The beat is that familiar loping mid-‘60s shuffle, but the guitars are sleepily country-fried, and everyone involved sounds ready to pass out on the beach with a bottle of Kahlua in one hand and a Thai Stick in the other.
Try A/1
1/23/14

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All Rise

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Naked Raygun, “All Rise” (Homestead, 1985)
Second full-length with their signature lineup, and the rumbling/roaring Buzzcocksesque pop-punk aspect is at its most classic. But there’s still plenty of turn-on-a-dime postpunk rhythmic/textural trickery to supply grit and keep you pleasantly out-of-joint.
Try 1/ 1, 1/ 3, 2/ 1
7/11/18

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