Japandroids

Last year, Japandroids' David Prowse said in an interview that his band experienced a drastic increase in popularity after an 8.3/Best New Music Pitchfork review of their debut album, Post-Nothing, and an Exclaim magazine cover. But before that attention, the Canadian duo had self-released two EPs.No Singles compiles those EPs (2007's All Lies and 2008's Lullaby Death Jams) in a single set. When listening to material that a band originally released before they received more widespread attention, there are two questions you should ask yourself: 1. How much has this band evolved? and 2. Do I like them more now or then?Both questions' answers come fairly easily because of Japandroids' minimal advance in sound; through the EPs, the album and their 2010 singles, these guys have played a fuzzy brand of fun, punk-influenced rock with lyrics that are often about both the carelessness and crisis of post-adolescence, and observations of others in their own demographic.That's not to say that every Japandroids release is the same. During that same interview, Prowse (drums/vocals) and Brian King (guitar/vocals) agreed that the biggest change in their group's sound has been confidence - confidence in their vocals, songwriting and all-around ability. In fact, their uncertainty even shows up in No Singles' liner notes: they covered Mclusky's "To Hell with Good Intentions" on All Lies because they wanted to make sure their first EP had "at least one good song on it." The most obvious change seems to be in their ability to craft a great hook -- other than "Coma Complacency," there aren't any tracks as catchy as "Young Hearts Spark Fire" or "Wet Hair" on this compilation.If you're looking for an incentive to buy the physical copy of No Singles, the packaging features a booklet full of photographs of the guys in their pre-Post-Nothing days, listed tour dates from 2006-2008, and even pictures of gig posters from when they were known as JPNDRDS.