One of my favorite albums of all time is Sludgeworth’s Loser’s Of The Year from 1993. It’s a slightly obscure gem full of Chicago pop punk that features the legendary Dan Schafer (aka Danny Vapid from Screeching Weasel and The Riverdales) on vocals. While Schafer is now primarily known as the frontman for The Methadones, he is also fronting a new band called Noise By Numbers. When I first heard the songs posted to the Noise By Numbers Myspace page last year, my initial thoughts were that it sounded more like Sludgeworth than The Methadones of anything else Schafer has done since then. I was totally stoked. I actually ripped the songs from the Myspace page so that I could listen to ‘em on my iPod and meant to post something about Noise By Numbers months ago, but just never got around to it.
Anyhow, Noise By Numbers has a new full-length, Yeah, Whatever… that was recently released by Asian Man Records and it is great. The record full of driving and oftentimes minor-key melodic mid-tempo pop punk and it’s great. Noise By Numbers members also include Jeff Dean (of The Bomb and Certain People I Know) on guitar, Rick Uncapher (of Textbook and Woolworthy fame) on bass, plus Yeah, Whatever… features Neil Hennessy (of The Lawrence Arms and Smoking Popes) on drums even though he isn’t in the band anymore. Even without the nostalgic lyrics about how things used to be, the music itself just has that certain sound. It will have you reminiscing about the shows at MacGregor’s and the Fireside Bowl you grew up going to; about old friends you don’t see anymore and just how different things are now. Those were the days. Go ahead and get a copy for yourself or someone you love. The CD is out now on Asian Man Records and the LP available from Solidarity.
MP3:
Noise By Numbers - Paris In September
Noise By Numbers - Waiting For The Train
Ahhh, MacGregor’s. I lived about a mile from there in its heyday. You’re makin’ me feel very old, man.