The romanticism and desolation of Los Angeles breeds a restlessness in it's people. It's a brooding temperament best captured by Echo Park's NO - a band that feels it in their bones, with the kind of fevered anticipation for something more. Frontman Bradley Hanan Carter's baritone vocals speak to the tension between the wanting and waiting, waiting for love or for some kind of order or sense to how it all works. Their track, "Stay With Me" is a ballad of calculated pleas. Of slow, delicate movements. It's being in love with someone, and hoping for some kind of stillness in the unpredictability of love. He asks, "wasn't there a place for me/inside your heart?" It's all the words you'd ever want your lover to say, the fantastic notion of running away, the return to youth, when everything was uncomplicated and wonderful.

NO began as a response to the limiting idea behind the word. In an effort to reclaim it, and reinterpret it as more than just an antithesis to possibility. These are sing-along songs, hymnal and anthema-tic; born out of a desire to connect with the greater collective of young people seeking their truth, adventure, love. There are remnants of odes to Bill Callahan, The National, and Arcade Fire -- epic, atmospheric drums that pulsate, buttered bass tones, melodic choruses.

It's not about naivety, it's about not being calloused by a city of strangeness and strangers. Something the band knows quite well. The band itself is composed of near-veterans, all claiming a vast history with various bands, solo efforts, defunct projects, cities-travelled, loves made and lost. The core of NO first emerged mid 2010 when through a chance meeting at a local breakfast diner, Sean and Bradley started sharing songs they had both been working on. Shortly after Joseph started coming around too, and after many months of creating, and finding Reese and Mike, it seemed there would be no choice not to finish whatever it was they were starting.

NO marvels at the growing pains of a vibrant city, in all of it's aching limbs and veins that run down dead ends. They'd rather listen to the children laughing at Logan Street Elementary School down their quiet streets, or kiss their girlfriends with all the hope that things will always feel this way. The interplay between hope and despair weaves itself throughout the collection of six songs in their debut EP "Don't Worry, You'll Be Here Forever" a sentiment that suggests that wherever "here" might be, it's a good place to start.

Thai Gaze