Nots

Nots

3

Goner

***CHECK STOCK!!!  Received a 7.6 rating from Pitchfork.  At first glance, 3 seems like a perfectly fitting title for a new Nots album. After all, it is the Memphis band’s third full-length and their first as a trio. Makes sense. But peeling back the layers reveals the spirit of the record: “Once we really leaned into the space that being a three-piece afforded us, our writing started to make better sense and connect,” explains guitarist-keyboardist-vocalist Natalie Hoffmann. “It made for a more interesting record than if we stayed comfortable and safe in the way we were writing.”  “More interesting” is a classic hard undersell. When Alexandra Eastburn left Nots in 2018, the threat of losing the gnarled texture or her hammering synth progressions resulted in some real growing pains for the band. But once the threesome arrived in Memphis to record with trusted engineer and friend Andrew McCalla, each member had embraced this fresh identity. Rather than abandon the noisy synth attack, Hoffmann instead decided to add another role to her expanding sonic arsenal, painting the backgrounds of tracks with melting buzzes and swirling waves. After the record began to take form, it felt much more accurate to understand 3 as a different force altogether from its Goner predecessors, Cosmetic (2016) and We Are Nots (2014). Themes of lost control and societal division are spread throughout the album. They can be heard not only via Hoffmann’s reverb-drenched drawl, but also in the sneaky tightness between drummer Charlotte...

Nots

Live At Goner Records

Goner

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Memphis' beloved NOTS recorded live at Goner Records. Last copies of an undistributed RSD 2017 LP released in an edition of 500 copies. Great sound, great atmosphere, great show!

Nots

Anxious Trend / In Glass

Famous Class

***The unrelenting Age of Anxiety that surrounds us all on both a personal and political level influenced the newest NOTS 7” “Anxious Trend / In Glass”. It’s a rhythmic mess punctuated by lyrics dealing with turmoil and shock as the new normal. Both songs were recorded with ANDREW MCCALLA straight to tape in a top secret Memphis haunt late July 2017.

Nots

Cruel Friend / Violence

Goner

Latest from Memphis' NOTS! "Cruel Friend" combines excellent riffage with near-Hawkwind levels of linear soarage and soak from the synths, with Natalie Hoffmann's dominating presence on vocals intact. "Violence" creepy crawls without guitars in a synthier, stealthier attack. With this release NOTS are moving into a whole new level of potency, able to deal in speed and aggression and slow-motion menace. Simply amazing.

Nots

Cosmetic

Goner

The second full-length statement from Memphis’ Nots, Cosmetic fearlessly attacks the rough edges between desire, deceit, appearance and reality. Not chanting down Babylon, Natalie Hoffmann screams straight into its face. In this Game Of Death, Nots run through the maze of mirrors with sledgehammers— oh, the sound of mirrors smashing—let’s smash some more! Nots are still a wild guitar band, but above and below the guitar, bass and drum pound, Alexandra Eastburn’s analog synth blurps melodies and nonsense, teasing squiggles of freedom which defy the false grid of modern life. With Hoffmann on guitar and vocals, Eastburn on synth, Charlotte Watson beating drums, and Meredith Lones steering a solid path through the chaos on bass, Nots are neither content with the smug “stare at your shoes” approach of bands from both coasts, nor an Earth-hugging “we need to get back to nature” hippie cop-out. There might not be any answers here. That might be the point. Nots have arrived at the next level of their attack with confidence and music that lays waste to the wasteland without romantic attachments..

Nots

Cold Line

Goner

A teaser 7-inch to the upcoming second album from Memphis’ Nots. Features an alternate version of the album cut “Cold Line,” backed with a cover of The Normal's “T.V.O.D.”

Nots

Virgin Mary

Goner

“Virgin Mary” is the synth-induced followup single to Nots’ debut LP, We Are Nots. Recorded half on Natalie Hoffmann’s four-track in the industrial dazed storage unit where the band practices, and half in Burgundy Studios with Keith Cooper (the rock ’n’ roll warlock responsible for capturing the two previous Nots 45-RPM assaults), “Virgin Mary” delivers hellish synth and guitar that swirls around the hypnotic rhythm section as the band simmers into the sonic void.  “[‘Virgin Mary’] finds the band back in the studio with Keith Cooper, the guy who recorded their first two singles. While it certainly sounds like a Nots song, there’s a significant departure from We Are Nots: Alexandra Eastburn’s synthesizer isn’t centrally responsible for the song’s melody. Instead, it burbles in the background, giving the track an unsettling and celestial undertone. And Natalie Hoffmann’s voice howls, her ever-unsteady and unpredictable guitar needles into the frame. Here, the rhythm section, Charlotte Watson and Madison Farmer, come off as the track’s ever-churning center. Nots aren’t exactly reinventing themselves—it’s familiar, but feels new. If this is a portent of their next moves, though, the impending chaos ought to be interesting.” —Pitchfork

Nots

We Are Nots

Goner

A longtime collaboration between Natalie Hoffmann (guitar) and Charlotte Watson (drums), Nots has evolved into its wildest incarnation yet. Now featuring Madison Farmer on bass and Alexandra Eastburn on synthesizer, the Memphis band follows up their first two singles on Goner Records with their guitar-driven, synth-laden debut LP.  We Are Nots was put to tape over the summer by Doug Easley and arrives just in time to land a spot on your Top Ten of 2014.  “There’s a constant post-mortem and excavation of the Memphis music underground by vultures of both the Euro and American varieties. Bands form, toil and scheme, mutate, play and record only to wither away in the seemingly unrelenting wall of indifference. Plod ahead a few years, label X or label Z discovers and excavates the musical rubble as much for autocratic as historic purposes. A gold star and a box of records to the winner. “Nix the assertion Nots are a side project, a spin off, a revival of some fashionable subset of your record collection. Evolving headstrong, their white noise is without compromise or concession. Brass venom yelled atop a torrent of twisted guitar shards, so human, barbed and unruly. Obliterate the retroactive retreat; Nots are now.” —John Hoppe

Nots

Fix / Modern

Goner

***“Fix” is the second 7-inch from Memphis’s all xx trio Nots, featuring Natalie Hoffmann, former Ex-Cult bassist, on guitar, Charlotte Watson from Manateees on bass, and Laurel Ferdon from Moving Finger on the drums. Following their debut Goner release, the Dust Red EP, this single is a whirlwind of razor-shard guitar and vocals for fans of the raw post-punk shriek. Get ready for their debut LP, recorded by Doug Easley and out on Goner Records this November.

Nots

S/t

Goner

***Power-trio from Memphis made up by NATALIE HOFFMAN (EX-CULT), CHARLOTTE WATSON (MANATEES), and LAUREL FERDON (MOVING FINGER). NOTS take the path less traveled when dealing with song structure, societal conventions, or the laws of thermodynamics. Impossibly cool nuevo no wavo! Edition of 400 copies.