Album Notes

no north is ken dolman and jon schlesinger

no north take their name from Charles Bukowski's book of short stories South of No North. - They formed in 1998 in Los Angeles where they are currently based. Drawing upon their influences of New York City Rock and Punk, American Roots Music and Hip Hop Grooves, they create a mellow blend of folk and rock.

WWW.AMERICANA-UK.COM five and a half stars (5 being best)
California. There have always been two sides to this beautiful, violent, poor home of millionaires and bums. Two sides to the American Dream- the side we're used to seeing in mainstream culture, and the side- the poverty struck drunk pointless side- which represents everyone for whom that dream is not just a fallacy but an outrageous slur. No North are named for Charles Bukowski's book of escapades and sweet, filthy, lucky tales of drunkenness, betting and whores (both genders), lowlife bars and lowlife men with no future but low enough horizons to be happy somehow. Musically? Steve Lillywhite and Daniel Lanois are two great producers who one immediately thinks of when hearing the opening bars to "she's a hand"- tight, tight hard pop beats with melancholy breathed over them, melodies half hawked and half swallowed. "time" leads with a low toned acoustic riff and a down vocal, before bringing instant joy by overlaying a blasting electric centrifuge of high notes which insist on harmony. Hope and beats from another part of LA make chase, and we have the best 3 minutes of down beat indie pop noise in a decade. "siren song" makes like The Monkees on the comedown, and fuzzes out whilst still evangelizing for 1965. The title track itself has a fat, fat, Neil Young riff and Beck, Ronnie Van Zandt and Lou Reed all seem to be competing for the mic, keen to sell the virtues of the eponymous living space over a sparse snare and a hi-hat. I could quite literally carry on for pages, but these two zealously talented multi instrumentalists have talent beyond their years, and a voice in Ken Dolman's which should help make them left-field pop stars with tunes, integrity and a massive audience within a year. The best debut of 2002 - an outstanding combination of folk music, stories of the working class, love, and dejection, mixed with deft electric flourishes, metronomic beats and a cloak of lo-fi. -MP