Noshows started its creative life as a solo project for songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Max Satow. He shifted gears in 2022, however, and recruited four top-flight musicians to transform Noshows into a “real” band. It rates high as an astute move. “Paranoid” attests to his wise choice in bandmates and the project is now scaling heights that wouldn’t be possible if Satow still worked alone. The new single will be an all-around smashing success for Noshows. It has the qualities a young band wants to help catapult them to the next level while still maintaining a close connection with the inciting spark that birthed them. This may be the moment when Noshows crosses over from indie darlings into alt-rock giants.
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Naysayers will claim they try to do too much and, as a result, there’s not one thing casual listeners will latch onto as a single reliable element of their sound. The idea has a grain of truth. Noshows is a restless band, never settling for long into one particular style, and enjoying a wide-open frame of reference encompassing multiple genres. The redeeming factor for them, however, is that they transition from one style to another without losing what makes them recognizable. There’s a distinctive lyrical point of view driving Max Satow’s songs, a sonic signature that never wavers, and skillful transitions from one line of attack to the next.
They tie an assortment of musical threads together until differences blur into an indistinguishable style. Funk echoes sit fine next to their alternative rock guitar roar and soaring melodies that embed themselves in the listener’s consciousness. Keyboards courtesy of Amedeo Corey fatten the band’s instrumental attack without sacrificing any musicality along the way. His playing helps carry the melody to otherwise unreachable heights.
Dylan Satow’s trumpet playing adds a wild card to the band’s sonic makeup. He kicks things off for the band and sets the stage for everything that follows. It’s another measure of the band’s eclecticism – they play by their own rules rather than indulging a wont for imitation. Noshows applies a judicious amount of effects to their instrumental sound, though it never obscures the melody. The song length is especially effective. Clocking in at a little over three and half minutes, the band shapes “Paranoid” for maximum effect and studiously avoids overstaying their welcome with listeners.
They are amassing an increasingly impressive discography. Noshows is the sort of band certain to impress serious young music fans today because they are so distinctive, yet recognizable. No one else is writing, recording, and performing music like this today. The fierce individuality at the heart of a song such as “Paranoid” doesn’t try steamrolling over listeners, but instead gets under your skin and sounds like something you’ve been waiting to hear all of your life.
There will be many more moments like this. Noshows haven’t even really hit their creative stride yet and, when they do, the results are sure to be nothing less than magical. The magic is here now, however, and will enchant even the most cynical of listeners.
Heather Savage
