No Wait Wait 'About Us' album

With the release of No Wait Wait's album About You, Chairkickers' Union Music (Low, Kid Dakota, Haley Bonar) deals up another glowing sign of Duluth, Minnesota's dense and entrenched music scene. NWW front man and New York transplant Marc Gartman (Pale Horse and Rider, Low) traveled to Duluth in 2003 for what he thought was only a fleeting summer getaway, until he found himself a band and a supportive artistic community worth sticking around for. No Wait Wait released a self-titled debut in 2004 and enjoyed a fall 2005 tour with The Retribution Gospel Choir featuring Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters) and Alan Sparhawk (Low). The band receives regular airplay on The Current in Minneapolis.

Thematically About You is a Relationship record with a capital "R." Through such an obvious title and heavy premise, About You might suggest overstatement - either tongue-in-cheek exaggeration or over-the-top sentimentality. But there is no irony or schmaltz here. Instead we find profound documentation of the painful (but inevitable) contradictions common to romantic relationships. The oldest desire to be IN and OUT of a relationship is felt on this record. This contradiction is most clearly heard in the following lyrics from the opening and closing tracks of About You: "I guess you should know, I don't want you" ("Lost in the Bottle") shifts to "I'll try and survive, ride all the waves . . . I'd build you a home as strong as my own" ("On Your Own"). Misery and hope, love and loathing, addiction and redemption, all coexist. About You is a straight up, literal diary of one relationship through music, reminiscent of Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" or similar in tone and vision to Robbie Fulks' "Couples in Trouble". About You is a difficult, honest record that curdles your blood and makes you cringe (in empathy), just as it wallops your heart and makes you dance.

The album was recorded and mixed by Brent Sigmeth (Big Wu, Jayhawks, Kim Deal) in just over a week, partially at Pachyderm Studio (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Son Volt) and also at Sacred Heart Recording Studio (Crash Test Dummies, Low). Eric Swanson of Sacred Heart served as engineer and Jake Larson (The Clubhouse) mastered the album. The band produced the record.

Selected Praise

"The songs on No Wait Wait's self-titled debut often capture the heart with their lyricism and effervescent melodies." - Pitchforkmedia

"No Wait Wait pull out all the pop stops. Most impressive, however, is how naturally it all flows." - CMJ

"Fans of guitar-driven pop owe it to themselves to purchase this as soon as possible. You won't regret it." - Delusions of Adequacy

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Tracklisting

No Wait Wait - About Us