Music
Press
Big Nothing is everything that was good about hard music in the late ‘90s. It’s hard not to reflect on days of youth while listening to Feel Friendly. Formally a much mellower band playing under the name A Pale Blue, Big Nothing turns the volume and tension way up, and the shift in sound and energy they have created is impressive. Recorded at The Hive studios with producer Colin Stewart, Feel Friendly is rough around the edges without being sloppy, and carries a quality that the musicians understand and trust in each other’s ability.
The first track, “Animal,” and last track, “Psychosomatic,” could both pass as respectful nods to Nirvana, while “Tethered Heart,” has a Mudhoney thing going on. Certainly not reliant on easy comparisons to the notorious purveyors of the grimey Pacific Northwest sound, Big Nothing shows off their ability to stand strongly within their own sound as well, which is apparent on the easy-shifting gears of “Apathy,” and the title track, both of which are winning my ears over more with each listen.
If you grew up loving the raw sounds of grunge and d.i.y. garage rock, then Feel Friendly will undoubtedly hold great appeal. Big Nothing is worth keeping an eye on. - DISCORDER
"The story is, we have a record but we haven’t played a show, I guess,” Big Nothing bassist Andy Bond explains. While he says it matter-of-factly, there is something pretty cheeky about a band essentially doing it backwards.
Having formed in 2011 with Galen Rigter, Jon Reddit, Andy Bond and Brock Allen, who had originally played together in the decidedly mellower project A Pale Blue, Big Nothing guitarist and singer Allen has taken the time to carefully build his song craft. Following a frenzied period of writing with A Pale Blue, Allen’s sound grew more energetic the further it journeyed from its source, until it developed a pace and tempo much more suited for head banging than quiet reflection.
“We made a record, which never really came out, and just sort of over time it started to get heavier and louder," Bond says. “We wrote really intensely for about a month or two, and then we went into the Hive with [producer] Colin Stewart over five or six days and finished the whole record.”
Their resulting debut, Feel Friendly, is an album that’s a sheer cacophony of sound, driven by riffs that explode out from shrill noises and powerful grooves. While the album’s gritty patina draws some of its sonic qualities from ‘90s grunge, it’s the band’s dynamic songwriting and flair for a good hook that takes the sound well beyond nostalgic.
At its heart, Big Nothing is an intently creative project driven by Allen, the de-facto bandleader. “He’s a musical genius,” Bond explains, “it sounds strange, but he really plays every instrument. Definitely all the ideas come from him; sometimes he’ll send us a whole song — sometimes he has a little riff and we work on it.” Reddit adds with a laugh, “I think he wants it to be more collective, but he kind of never has a bad idea.”
Despite their modesty, the troupe’s explosive energy comes from their ability to perfectly balance tension with release. And this, the band’s sense for when to push and when to lie back, is what gives the underlying material its power. - BEATROUTE
Discography
FEEL FRIENDLY (2012)
Photos
Bio
In late spring of 2011, following the abortion of their previous band endeavor A Pale Blue, former members Brock Allen, Jon Redditt, Andy Bond and Galen Rigter reassembled as the psych-grunge, bummer-pop group Big Nothing. It is a regrouping seemingly determined by the chance purchase of a bombed-out late 60's Univox Super-Fuzz. Although it's archaic grey primer casing smelled of cat piss and had deteriorated into a near unidentifiable state, the foot switch remained intact, and when first engaged the awful noise produced altered the course of the band's future forever...and ever...and ever...
By the end of summer, the band had channeled that awful noise into 9 songs for their debut album entitled Feel Friendly. Recorded at The Hive with producer Colin Stewart, Feel Friendly has been described by people forced to listen to it as:
"a sheer cacophony of sound, driven by riffs that explode out from shrill noises and powerful grooves. While the album’s gritty patina draws some of its sonic qualities from ‘90s grunge...the band’s dynamic songwriting and flair for a good hook...takes the sound well beyond
nostalgic."
And of the band itself:
"[their] explosive energy comes from the ability to perfectly balance tension with release. And this, the band’s sense for when to push and when to lie back, is what gives the underlying material its power."
--Jordan Ardanaz, Beatroute Magazine, February 2012
Here’s to life’s little abysses.
Links
