With a lineup that stretches from Norway through Athens, Georgia to the Northwest corner of the United States, Scott McCaughey’s The No Ones consists of members from R.E.M.; I Was A King, The Minus 5, The Baseball Project, etc., The No Ones are classic two guitars, bass, and drums, sounding like what you might expect, only different, more-so, and better!
The band recently released their debut album, The Great Lost No Ones, on Yep Roc Records.
Recorded in June 2017 at Type Foundry in Portland, OR, the 13-track album was produced by Adam Selzer (M. Ward), the album is about the usual: abduction, interstellar mysteries, witchcraft, climate change, gentrification, and the desolation of the soul, their vocal harmonies and psychedelic flourishes fuse the sunny turbulent sounds of the ‘60s with the darkness and decay of present day. It’s like Portland and Norway in a blender.
Guest appearances on the album include Patterson Hood (“Straight Into The Bridge” and “Sweet Home Mississippi”), Darren Hanlon (“All You Need Is Rain,” “Too Blind To Believe, “Turn Again”), Andrew Reiger and Davey Wrathgabar (“Dream Something Else”), Lucy Parnell (“Sun Station Vadsø”), and Debbi Peterson (“Gone”).
McCaughey sums up The No Ones in his own humorous style:
“Does anybody REALLY need another guitar band? One with Peter Buck, and Scott McCaughey? Oh, dear one-eyed Odin, NO!
But we don’t care.
The No Ones are here. And there. Portland, Norway! That’s a great town. Nice in the summer.
Here’s the way it works. People like us like music. We like people who make music that we like. We like to meet nice people and make music with them. Thus another band! It’s so simple.”
Today Glide is excited to premiere McCaughey’s video for his own tune “Gone,” which he made while stuck at home in quarantine. Gotta make the best of it, right? Featuring McCaughey performing the track in his basement, “Gone” features shimmering harmonies and rich, atmospheric guitar effects to create a slowburning and thoughtful pop sound that McCaughey says would be at home on a “I Was A King record (with the Bangles’ Debbi Peterson’s exquisite harmonizing instead of I Was A King’s Anne Lise Frøkedal).” Indeed, this is the kind of tender power pop that reminds us why McCaughey is one of the masters of the genre. Compared to the version that appears on the album, which is recorded at a faster pace with loads of feedback-laced rock and roll guitar, this is a more intimate affair.
McCaughey shares his thoughts on the band and his take on the song:
“We were sad to postpone all our No Ones gigs until next year, and not really able to do anything together in this stressful time. Peter and I had been practicing daily to prepare to bring The No Ones songs to the stage, before the lockdown. Arne and Frode were ready for us to invade Norway! But everything changes, doesn’t it?
So here’s my experimental take on live streaming. The song ‘Gone’ was really speaking to me lyrically these days, and I stumbled upon this sorrowful solo version. So what you’ll see and hear are live performances of the song, played on (out of tune) piano, acoustic guitar (a 1940s Harmony Cremona), and Les Paul through a Boss synth pedal and Peter’s old Magnatone amp. I propped up my iPhone to capture each take on ‘video,’ while also tracking the live vocal and accompaniment to ProTools, overlaid on the Univox rhythm box, without hearing any of the previous versions.
Now, this in no way really represents The No Ones, a bi-continental two-guitars/bass/drums rock machine. It’s just lowly lonely me from The Dungeon Of Horror, safely distant at home in isolation. But this is where Debbi Peterson sang her beautiful harmonies on the album version of ‘Gone,’ where lyrics were written, overdubs undertaken, where it was mixed. The spirit of Frode, Peter, and Arne is everywhere, and they approve. But I truly recommend you listen to the rockin’ and powerful version from The Great Lost No Ones Album, and come see us rage through this tune full-on, live and in-person, next year! Meanwhile, play it safe out there — the time will come for us all to get together.”
WATCH:
