Having shed their youngest member in the two years since they
released No Kill Beep Beep, a debut with a playful, forced-smile façade, Q & Not U, a Washington, D.C., group,
return with a more mature sound on Different Damage, one that
encompasses both the pitfalls and improvements of age.
With their sound stripped of all but beat and melody (and often they
are one and the same), drummer John Davis owns this record. Caressing
multiple rhythms from his meager kit, Davis rifles his sticks across
the snare like skipping stones in the prototypical D.C. rocker "Black
Plastic Bag." And with his quick leaps from the hi-hat to the snare
in several cuts including "This Are Flashes," which also boasts sharp, bottom-heavy riffs, Davis subtly accentuates post-punk's
influence on the trio.
Rescuing Q & Not U from the style-as-substance post-post-punk crop
are straight vocals (i.e. no breathy, heavily affected squeals and
sighs) and a decidedly D.C. songwriting style. No matter how dancey
or upbeat the song, the core is still anchored to the decades-old
Dischord aesthetic of virtuosity, furrowed brows and controlled
chaos. The figurehead of this sound, Fugazi's Ian Mackaye, produced
Different Damage (as he did No Kill), and his smudged
fingerprints can be felt in the brashness of the two previously
mentioned cuts, as well as in "When the Lines Go Down." Mackaye's
punk touch and Q's hyperactive nature don't quite mesh, making
the album unpredictable. Which is great, obviously.
Yet the playfulness of the debut (which itself pales in comparison to
the group's lively gigs) has significantly waned in round two. Midway
through "Hooray for Humans," one of No Kill's better cuts,
singer Chris Richards literally spelled out their party line,
yelling, "D! O! W! N!/ And that's the way we get down!" "Soft
Pyramids," Different Damage's opener, begins with Richards
spelling once again, but this time in a timid coo. "S-O-F/ T-P-Y/
R-A-M/ I-D-S/ E-V-A/ P-O-R/ A-T-E," he gently offers as guitar chimes
mimic his voice. It's clear from its morose, stark minimalism —
each note and snap perfectly placed, plus a lovely melodica solo
— that somebody doesn't feel like partying anymore.
By slowing down and turning their songs inward, rather than just
focusing on getting crowds into a fervor, Q & Not U have discovered
strengths that probably surprised even them. "Snow Patterns" bears an
odd resemblance to The Beatles' "Julia," tenderly double-tracked
vocals offering such realist lines as "Wrapped in fabrics/ We'll wait
patiently to see something/ So beautiful and it will take the breath
out of our lungs." The lyrics are fantastic and the arrangement even
better — a pulsing bass line and a snare-heavy beat betraying
the restrained melody.
And having established how Q & Not U have changed, here's the real
shocker: Things really aren't all that different. Richards is more
comfortable singing, which erases the whiny nature that marred some
of their earlier material, but this is still a band that makes a good
party great. Their energy has always been irresistible — even
without getting on the dance floor. Different Damage
reestablishes their visceral powers, but also makes room for the
wallflowers.
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