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Thrashing onto the scene with their debut album, No Kill Beep
Beep, Washington, D.C.-based Q And Not U combine the
sensibilities of punk, indie, and emo in a bare-bones, minimalist
production. The album takes punk to a new, more evolved level,
simultaneously challenging and complimenting what one expects from
their label, Dischord. Ian McKaye, who runs the label and leads its
most prominent band, Fugazi, produced the record, in which the band
rips through 11 songs in almost 40 minutes with a wild, raw, bubbling
energy. Guitars crash and bounce around and off each other like
ricocheting bullets in a kitchen full of pots and pans. "End the
Washington Monument (Blinks) Goodnight" starts off with a guitar
screeching on and off, playing against the rhythm of the drums,
suggesting the buzzsaw guitar work of Rage Against The Machine's Tom
Morello. As the song progresses, another guitar comes in, creating a
kind of bleeping effect and reminding me of some machine in the
process of breaking down. Not that the band is afraid of melody; they
embrace it consistently throughout the album. You've probably never
experienced anything quite like No Kill Beep Beep,
particularly "Kiss Distinctly American" and "Sleeping the Terror
Code." The slower pace of both songs provides a dramatic contrast to
the rest of the album. Equally striking are their cryptic, random
lyrics and the confident yet haunting vocals of Harris Klahr and
Chris Richards. Richards sings, "Inside the convex lens we all crash
new jet planes tonight/ And the sin is back in medicine/ Beltway goes
around/ Monuments are thinking/ Beltway burns down/ Monuments sink
down/ And it's on." Is this song about the passage of time, maybe
even the end of the world? Or is the group making some comment about
society, D.C. version? As with all of the other songs, it's for you
to figure out. You know, think! You won't get many clues from the
band; the lyrics are designed to be offsetting, to confuse the
listener and trigger paranoia. That seems to be what Q And Not U are
going for in the end — they want you to feel the paranoia.
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