Portland’s No Year Premiere Energetic New Post-Hardcore Single — Listen Here!

The Portland group No Year performs a kind of extended, exhilaratingly intense post-hardcore on their catchy new single “What People Say,” which appears on their forthcoming debut full-length album SO LONG.

Get a first listen to the track below!

The fist-shaking song simmers between anxiety and exuberance, seeming to explore the emotional space in which those feelings mix. It’s abrasive but relentlessly forward-moving, leading to somewhat of a push-and-pull that seems built into the bristling song, as if suddenly riding a roller-coaster with the band. No Year’s riffing feels undeniably formidable – and, at least at a couple points, the performance takes on somewhat of a beefy hard rock/ straight-up hardcore vibe – but there’s a definite undertow. The repetitious riffs sound increasingly tense as the song proceeds, without a major break in the sonic thicket. 

Taking a cue from guitarist/ vocalist Neal Munson’s explanation for the song, the track seems to encapsulate the haggard feelings of getting trapped in a de facto time loop as circumstances drag on… and on… and on. “What People Say is about slogging through another day/month/year in a bleak, depressing world,” Munson shares. “It’s about a sense of aimless hopelessness as you try to stay sane, survive and make lemonade out of lemons. A classic millennial lament!”

No Year seem to zero in upon and spotlight a spark of essential personality in their musical fog of exhaustion. While the tension in the extended riffing feels undeniable, the energy bursting through the sonic haze seriously shines, and the track feels electric and rather invigorating. It’s a great time.

SO LONG drops on Jan. 29 via NYC label Inferior Planet. Pre-order the record from the label at this link, and check out No Year on Bandcamp at this link. Although the group is new, they named themselves and their new record before 2020, having recorded the songs in 2019, although saying “so long” to at least some of the chaos of the past year seems like an only increasingly welcome prospect.

Listen to “What People Say” below!