No Weather Talks, the female fronted fivesome from Hamburg, Germany, has been gaining in popularity in recent years. Their success and recognition isn’t unfounded though, it’s the payoff that is spawned by being extremely busy in the short time they’ve been around. They released their first demo in 2012 and later that same year followed it up with a masterfully titled, five song EP, More Passion Less Paycheck. Since then, they’ve been extensively touring, predominantly in Europe but they have also dipped their toe in US waters playing at The Fest in Gainesville Florida a few times. In addition to that, they also released their second EP, Disintegrator in April of 2014. Now, just three short years after inception, comes their debut full length album Undoing Defeat.
This album doesn’t deviate from the band’s familiar tone. The lyrics are acerbic and shine light on the ills of society like racism, misogyny and abuse of political power. But what sets them apart from others with a similar message is the packaging of that message. They have a wide variety of musical influence, from 90’s indie rock to contemporary post-punk and pop. Each of those contrasting influences can be found in different parts of their unique sound. The guitars draw mostly from post-punk, the drums provide a gritty, fast paced skate punk flare and Fraulein Fredrika Herr’s vocals take on a distinct 90’s, indie timbre (“Silent Scapegoats” highlights this aspect of her voice perfectly). While the sound doesn’t immediately illicit a punk music vibe, the message does and it weaves in just enough of that familiar sound that it can’t be called anything else.
“Solid” would probably be a the best adjective to describe the album. Where others might have highs and lows, hits and misses, this one is markedly cohesive from track one to track thirteen. While that is a good thing, it does leave you wanting a little more. There’s no track that stands out or excels above the others. It’s almost sewn up too nicely. So the consistency is awesome, especially for a newer band but branching out a little more and taking a couple chances could‘ve added a much needed extra layer to this otherwise superb first full length offering. My favorite tracks are the ones that have a bit more of the traditional Punk sound to them, especially “Shake It Off”, “Picture Perfect Propaganda” and “Road Rash” which they made a YouTube Video for. That shouldn’t take away from the others though. There is plenty of variety and quality from start to finish.
Currently, there’s only one track available to stream from the new album, however all of their previous albums are available to stream in their entirety on their Bandcamp Page. They’re also available for download, name-your-price! So go give them a listen and support them if you like what you hear!
3 / 5