No Other

The screeching guitar scrawl at the last second of No Other's “Destruction Song” is the most telling detail on the entire new track from the Philadelphia three-piece. While the song moves along with tight-pulsed efficiency, using garage and punk to push it forward while relying on jangly tambourine to cut the sour with some sweet, the highlight is with certainty the crushing, perfectly balanced guitar noise that encases the track from start to close. No Other is comprised of some of Philadelphia's most beloved musicians (with members of The Pretty Greens, Helmsman, and Bedroom Problems) and the tightness in their debut release reveals their ability to construct well-balanced punk whose star players oscillate in importance between the grungy bass, the ticky-tappy drums, and the out-in-front vocals. The punctuating kicker at the song's close—the guitar all vibrant and squeelingly punched out—and it's like a champion has been chosen. Powerpunk with a guitar as its force of nature.

No Other have released their debut EP, I Believe In Werner Herzog, which you can download for free by going to their website here. - Impose Magazine

If you are launching a new band and have to pick a sonic square one at which to start, we think you could do far worse than staking your claim to a piece of the scene by emulating Wild Flag. Which is pretty much where we find the fledgling Philly-based indie rock trio No Other, at least at times, on its nimble debut EP, I Believe In Werner Herzog. The outfit, fronted by notable jill-of-all-trades (guitar girl, DJ, show promoter) Maria T, takes its name from an obscure Gene Clark LP. But instead of the indulgent excess of the Byrds co-founder's career-derailing album, No Other trades in stylishly lean post-punk. That Maria T's voice can be favorably compared to that of Velocity Girl's Sarah Shannon (and, yes, Mary Timony's) makes the Philadelphia act's EP particularly easy on the ears. The collection was recorded at Sex Dungeon in Philly, which indiescenti will recall is the facility responsible for awesome records from Fat History Month, Pile and Speedy Ortiz. Included in the No Other offering are three songs, which are available for free to those willing to give over their email address. The promo track "Destruction Song" makes for a tidy statement of intent. Plenty of fuzz on the guitar, ample fizz from behind the drum kit, and burly bass conspire to give the song substantial magnitude and direction, although the vocal interplay in the pre-chorus really makes "Destruction Song" take off. EP opener "Break Away" thrives via a long skein of fuzz bass that goes Hulk during the song's dense choruses, and the final track "DSSN" propounds the set's most danceable beat. In sum, it's a very fine start for a very promising act, and we're eager to hear more. Stream "Destruction Song" via the Soundcloud embed below. - Clicky Clicky Music Blog

Okay, we get it, we’re predictable. We love fuzz-bass. Can’t help ourselves. Throw in some gnarled surf guitar, a touch of primal drums, and top it off with take-no-shit girl-group vocals, and we get weak in the knees. So when the Philly trio No Other’s “Destruction Song” beamed into our brains via WZBC 90.3 FM’s superb “Maura Dot Com Slash” show, we went running straight to the tubes to snag it for ourselves. No Other harkens back to the glory days of Riot Grrrl without letting nostalgia drag it into retread territory or maturity temper the intensity. Their EP, I Believe in Werner Herzog, is a bruising example of rock-n-roll as social rebellion, a triptych of gorgeously distorted punk numbers that feels like a kick to the gut of complacency. - DigBoston

These ladies hit hard and heavy with their psych-flared take on punk – luckily for us they’ve got a new 7″ single coming soon, courtesy of Negative Fun Records in North Carolina. Witness them play “Opaque,” the B-side to their 7″, then catch them live for a full dose of their sound – they were throwing around some new material and boy was it monstrous. - The Styrofoam Drone