A lot of years ago, this guy played in a really, really good rock-punk band. For a long time that band had a standing tradition: release a 7” single and go out on tour to promote the release. It was a fairly lucrative practice and, eventually, the band celebrated a milestone anniversary (I can’t remember how many years) by releasing a CD which compiled all the songs on those singles and going out to promote all the same songs on another release.
I mention this other band’s fairly brilliant “all the miles we can get out of seven inches” practice here because, while I thought it was pretty smart at the time, apparently this practice isn’t unheard of – because Noi!se appears to be doing something very similar now.The band has already unveiled two singles this year: one is the 12” picture disc release for “Lost,” and the other is this 7”, one-sided single for Price We Pay.
That’s right – Noi!se has released two very collectible singles with the benefit of there only being two songs between them. Talk about getting as much as possible out of as little as possible.
But the best part is that, in the case of the “Price We Pay” single, being a “one and done” affair doesn’t feel like it’s shortchanging listeners in the slightest. As soon as needle meets vinyl, the band is already warm and chugging and singer Matt Henson is already whipped to a froth as he barks couplets about frustration with the world at large and the sanctity of lies. Even on first pass, the veil over the band’s political discussion is very, very thin, but the drums in the song seem intent on punching holes through it while the guitars and vocal attempt to shred the remainder to bits. Rare is the song which straddles incendiary discussion points with unhinged anger but, when “Price We Pay” is tempered by audio from a news broadcast and issues the band’s observations and indictments in no uncertain terms, any question that the band may have narrowly missed the mark is completely removed. After that, the solo which appears in the song is great but reallt unnecessary; the incendiary vocals set all the fires, and everything’s already burning.
…That’s it. After Price We Pay ends, the needle lifts from the side and there is nothing else to find – but there doesn’t need to be. The beauty of this single is that, after the sole cut ends, no one dreams of asking for more because there’s nothing left to say. In two minutes and forty-five seconds, Noi!se has done more than anyone could have hoped for and gone a spectacular distance with this seven-inch.
