The No Ones are set to release My Best Evil Friend, their first full-length collection since 2020, slated for March 31 on Yep Roc Records. Available in digital, CD and LP formats, the First Edition double-LP features six exclusive tracks.
Paying tribute to the artists that inspire them and populate their turntables, My Best Evil Friend channels Nick Lowe, Pamela Polland, Marvin Gaye, Jenny Lewis, Jesse Ed Davis, ? & The Mysterians, Plastic Ono Band, and Phil Ochs, among others.
Today, the group shares the second single “Song for George,” a reflective, mid-tempo tune that pays homage to George Harrison and features Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) on backing vocals and Peter Buck on electric sitar. Of the track, Scott McCaughey offers, “I was sitting in the Dungeon on Feb. 25, 2021, when L’Angelo Misterioso dropped by and presented me with this tune, words, recording. Very considerate of him, and I’ll always cherish our time together. Ben Gibbard as Greek chorus.”
With a lineup that stretches from Norway through Athens, Georgia, to the Northwest corner of the U.S., The No Ones are comprised of Scott McCaughey (lead and backing vocals, bass, keyboards, guitars), Peter Buck (12-string, guitars, electric sitar, bass), Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen (drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals), and Frode Strømstad (lead and backing vocals, guitars).
For the album, the group enlisted backing vocals contributions from friends Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), and Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven) on bass, and strings from Marin Stallemo Bakke.
My Best Evil Friend was recorded by Bård Ingebrigtsen at Amper Tone Studios in Oslo, Norway, Scott McCaughey at Dungeon of Horror in Portland, OR, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen at Nygrenda Kev & Dur in Grimstad, Norway, and Erik Bekkeheien in Egersund, Norway.
Previously released single, “All the Stupid Days,” sees the band rueing the days of bad decisions in music and life through clever and descriptive lyricism, topped with psychedelic flourishes.
My Best Evil Friend CD/Digital Tracklisting:
- KLIV
- 304 Molino Way
- Phil Ochs Is Dead
- Song for George
- Blue Cheer Captain
- Cameo Parkway
- One Night at the Fillmore
- Throwdown in Whispertown
- Time Sent Lewis
- Band with No Head
- We Are Your Band
- The After Party
My Best Evil Friend First Edition 2-LP Tracklisting:
- KLIV
- Set List
- 304 Molino Way
- Blue Cheer Captain
- Phil Ochs Is Dead
- One Night at the Fillmore
- Throwdown in Whispertown
- Time Sent Lewis
- Cameo Parkway
- J.E.D.
- Song for George
- All the Stupid Days
- Band with No Head
- Solo in the End
- Kick Out the Dwarf
- Slow Down
- We Are Your Band
- The After Party