No Problem “Living in the Void” ep

This is NO PROBLEM’s latest release, which makes four. This would be the third 7”. The first two were on Handsome Dan. The full length was on Deranged. If I was to draw a conclusion about this it looks to me that 7”s come out on Calgary labels. Debt Offensive has taken this on. But Todd won’t have any problems with a band made up of past members of WEDNESDAY NIGHT HEROES, LET’S DANCE, and THRASHTIC FIBROSIS.  These were great bands in their own right and everything that NO PROBLEM has written has been great. This new ep seems a bit more back to basics. In an Exclaim interview the band talked about going after an old L.A. sound, and after listening to this I would hazard to guess that they were talking about early YOUTH BRIGADE and CHANNEL 3. The songs are more mid paced in tempo, the songs are constantly building and there are great sung back up vocals a la early SNFU. If I didn’t know better I would think that Chi Pig had broken out a rendition of “Cannibal Cafe” for the back ups on “Happy Family”. I mean that as a compliment. Have you ever been to an SNFU gig when that song starts in and the crowd erupts into a chorus of “whoas”? There is no moment quite like it. The chorus in “Happy Family” invokes the greatness of NO PROBLEM. But the sentiments to “Living in the Void” are immediately relatable whether you are living in Edmonton or Toronto or Sydney. And that is a carry over from the LP. There is so much relatable material in a NO PROBLEM song. The flame still burns what sounds like an all start team of a band. Champion city lives on without the Oilers. (Debt Offensive – 205-25 Richard Place SW / Calgary, AB / T3E 7N1 / Canada / http://debtoffensiverecs.bigcartel.com/)