NO MOMENTUM releases ep “parting shot”
further reading for a review of the album and an interview with the band discussing the creative process of the ep.
WORDS BY: Ash Hausrath
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY:Noelle Janasiewicz
No Momentum’s “Parting Shot” is a very eloquent and cohesive EP with catchy guitar riffs paired with bookends with deep vocals throughout the collection of songs from the Poughkeepsie-based band.
“Parting Shot” starts with a bang. Introducing the EP with “Boss Battle” immediately catches the listener’s attention with an announcement followed by a dynamic track of fun rhythms felt within the guitars and drums with a more melodic sound than the rest of the EP brings. Tempo changes and vocal shifts are at the forefront of the entire EP—these are especially prevalent with this track. This is followed by “Dance, Dance: Revolution”—a loud, more classically punk-sounding song filled with screaming vocals and a much faster tempo than the previous track that anyone can imagine themselves moshing to. There is a break midway through the song that appears to give the track its namesake—a techy shift that places the listener in the middle of a video game. “Forest” slows things down again—but not for long. A bright yet low-sounding track that adds intense contrast to “Parting Shot”, it’s difficult to say that this song stands out from the others since each song is incredibly unique sounding. Yet, No Momentum managed to blend these tracks almost perfectly with a couple of common threads running through each song that can be summarized as a powerhouse trio of vocals, guitars, and drums. The final song, “parting shot”, was justly chosen as the title track for the EP. The sound of this song beautifully encapsulates the sonic range of the rest of the collection of songs from No Momentum. This is a very vibrant and lively EP that fans of Hot Mulligan, Basement, and Super American will likely enjoy.
What was the creative process like making the EP?
“A lot of our musical process recently has been pretty different, Bowman (vocals/guitar/synth) had led the creative process for most of our first couple releases, but with the pandemic hitting we had a lot more time to really refine the way we made music, and the songs we’ve made since have been different and better since it was a more cohesive process. For this EP Marty (drums/vocals) brought a lot of his influences from post-hardcore to the table which is why it’s heavier than our other stuff. He wrote the main riffs for boss fight, dance, dance: revolution, and the title track, as well as the lyrics on title track and boss battle.”
Are there any underlying themes, messages or stories related to the EP?
“For the songs bowman wrote (dance, dance: revolution), there were a lot of themes with existential crises and dread. Kind of trying to figure out yourself in the world we live in. Marty (boss battle, title track) had similar themes relating to conflict internally, as well as external conflict and themes of regret.”
For those who don't know you; why the wrestling imagery?
It’s been a theme in a lot of our childhood and adulthood lives, an interest and theres a nostalgia factor there. we tried to relate it with like the samples being intertwined with the lyrics like we started with releases Mach punch and seismic toss, and we continued that theme with this EP. with like the heavier themes adding that harder type of music and it just fit. We’ve had ideas for wrestling merch in the past and it just worked out for this. We are the big bad immovable force of punk rock. No one can step to us and our firepower be it on a mic, on any instrument, or on a canvas mat between 3 ropes. No Momentum having an off day is the most legendary day in any other band's puny worthless existence. There are only two understandable reasons for those who are not singing the praise of the No Momentum band, one is merely sheer stupidity, and the other being that they are cowering in fear at the idea of befriending us and either being outshone or left behind like the speckless bits of dust that these loser ass bands know themselves to be.”
Everyone takes a turn with vocals on this one, how did that come to be?
“We figured out we all have the voice of angels and it would be a disservice to the world to hide it. And it just kinda worked out, Dan and Marty wanted to sing more and Bowman gets tired, so it was a perfect situation”
How did recording the EP go?
“Recording was great, we’ve been recording with Jake Albi, of imposters, bluechips, and his solo project, which is always a great experience. Jake is a great dude and has been a good friend for a long time, recording with him is always a blast. We also tried a new process with him of recording each song all together instead of our parts separately which really captured our sound better. Plus you get to chill with a cat, who wouldn’t love that?”
Did you guys face any struggles creating the EP?
“Honestly the biggest thing that got in the way was just life things. Dan (bass/vocals) had a couple pretty major life changes/unexpected events happen all in a row which occupied a lot of recording time. We started recording in April 2021, and only now got to finally release it.”
Can we expect any weekenders or tours for the release?
“We’re kind of in the middle of a string of shows that could be considered our run for the EP, but no specific tours planned yet. We have the release show 4/30 in Wappingers, and a really amazing show 5/6 in Newburgh, and another cool show in Middletown 5/20.
- What hopes do you have for the release show?We’ve got a couple cool surprises planned to make things a lil rowdy that we’re really excited for, but you’ll have to be there to find out. Plus it’s Marty’s birthday show so if you don’t show up you’re a bad person.”
What's next for No Momentum?
“We’ve got an album 95% completed and demoed out. Just gotta get the time and money to record (good time to plug we have plenty of cool merch: shirts, water bottles, tapes, CDs). We have no plans to ever fucking stop and we’re lookin to expand and go bigger, grow as a unit, much like hydra, cut off one head and two more will take its place. We’re an open minded group of musicians always trying new techniques of writing, recording, performing. That’s how it is and how it’s always gonna be and if you’re not down for that we got two words for ya, suck it”
Anything else you wish to include?
“Our booking information: nomomentumny@gmail.com @nomomentumny Twitter/insta
We have this really cool thing coming up where you can pre-order from a direct-to-vinyl live session we’re doing with Leesta Vall. You pick a song and get a vinyl pressing of that song with a personalized message. We have two unreleased songs to choose from, including one of the aforementioned album songs. Link: https://leestavall.com/products/nomomentum
We want to thank you guys for your continued support and friendship <3
Robert Xbox.”
