Introducing: The Big Nothing

Tokyo based American Ex-Pats, The Big Nothing, have just released their debut self-titled album on their own label and it's well worth getting hold of. The band are Rob Gray, Jim Stellato, Scott VanDusen and Kurt Schussler and the album was recorded and mixed by The Big Nothing in Tokyo over 2012-2013. Drums and bass were recorded by Jyuna Yamamoto at his studio in Tokyo with Cover Concept and Art from Andrew Keith Murray and Layout by Rob Gray. The eight songs are diverse and packed full of great melodic twists and turns. My picks from the album are the opening number "Love Love Love" which has that laconic drawl that reminds me of Dinosaur Jr or Buffalo Tom with a great guitar break that cuts right through the track. The band share lead vocals and this gives the album a diverse sound, as do the impressively intertwining guitars that weave through the perfectly constructed songs. "New World" is an uptempo rocker that has a great crunching guitar intro. "No Wonder" is underpinned by some neat piano, kind of like The Hold Steady, with some majestic backing vocals that elevate the chorus to one of those stick-in-your-head-for-days ear-worms that burrows it's way into your mind, you won't forget it in a hurry, it's an excellent song. "Nobody Else" is a slow burner that suddenly erupts into a crazed guitar riff and haunting chorus that conjures up Nirvana or Sonic Youth. "Trainsong" is a nice summery slice of Power Pop and pretty much sums up the overall feel-good factor of The Big Nothing.

Here's a great video filmed in Tokyo for the track "Used To"...

You can buy the album from the Big Nothing's Bandcamp page and keep up to date on gigs and news by "liking" their official Facebook page.