The No Ones

A continent-spanning pop collective and mutual admiration society, the No Ones is a collaborative project featuring two American musicians of note -- former <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Peter Buck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6IfaumPVXMZ8iDue5QhuCY">Young Fresh Fellows</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7k8oHbK8ratXIVlYX7fVRU">Minus 5</a> leader <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">Scott McCaughey</a> -- and two members of the celebrated Norwegian indie pop band <a href="spotify:artist:0SannT3hsrgAXQ9abyVQsB">I Was a King</a>, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and Frode Strømstad. Specializing in scrappy and energetic indie rock with plenty of hooks and an offbeat sense of humor, the No Ones made their debut in 2017 with the four-song EP Sun Station, but expanded their ambitions with their first full-length album, 2020's The Great Lost No Ones Album. 2023's My Best Evil Friend found them thinking bigger with more expansive arrangements and grander storytelling from <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a>.

<a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Peter Buck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">Scott McCaughey</a> have had a long working relationship; <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> was a touring member of <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a> and frequently assisted on their studio sessions beginning with the tour following 1994's Monster, and <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a> often brought <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> along for his projects with artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:0O0g9JMOVNoIgLG6dgaYMY">Robyn Hitchcock</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Cc79YAHP7xvQAVQSjveP6">Alejandro Escovedo</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7r4sGN6oIOOL3aw1zqPg1T">Filthy Friends</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> was also a key participant in the sessions for <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a>'s post-<a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a> solo albums (2012's Peter Buck, 2014's I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again, and 2015's Warzone Earth), and <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a> in turn often sat in with <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a>'s ad hoc group <a href="spotify:artist:7k8oHbK8ratXIVlYX7fVRU">the Minus 5</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0o6vWEqUMVEHLLrWuFUVut">the Baseball Project</a>, a group devoted to songs about the national pastime also featuring <a href="spotify:artist:1l0eT7EY5r7U1gMVm2SyoS">Dream Syndicate</a> frontman <a href="spotify:artist:5JFS60r6NwiQfX8Ue29JHL">Steve Wynn</a>.

Having firmly established their fondness for making records with friends and artists they admire, <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> met Mathisen and Strømstad in 2015 when the Americans were appearing at the Ice Station Vadsø Festival in Norway, where <a href="spotify:artist:0SannT3hsrgAXQ9abyVQsB">I Was a King</a> were also on the bill. The four hit it off and Mathisen and Strømstad asked <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> if they could add some overdubs to a side project they were recording. After passing song ideas and files back and forth, they recorded four original songs without setting foot in the same studio, and opted to release them later that same year on an EP titled Sun Station. All parties involved were happy with the results, and in 2017 Mathisen and Strømstad flew to Portland, Oregon, where they joined <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> for five days of recording. The completion of the album was delayed when <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> suffered a stroke in November 2017 before he could complete overdubs and mixing for the project, but he went on to a full recovery, and in March 2020, The Great Lost No Ones Album was released in the United States by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Yep+Roc%22">Yep Roc</a>.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the band to cancel a string of dates in Norway, but they continued to work on songs during their downtime, with Mathisen and Strømstad recording together in Oslo, and <a href="spotify:artist:0sqfioVq0W7KyfszjuiDMu">Buck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a> cutting most of their material at <a href="spotify:artist:4D4T2hu4Wgm9MmdagNVVWz">McCaughey</a>'s studio in Portland. <a href="spotify:artist:6nC2QUWQf9EldmFq3iQwoL">Norman Blake</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2Sp19cOHSqAUlE64hekARW">Teenage Fanclub</a>, Debbie Peterson of <a href="spotify:artist:51l0uqRxGaczYr4271pVIC">the Bangles</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5CZIV0zvRz5au1NaWrqygR">Victor Krummenacher</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:1JXB7XQ9hjLB5pnr1eowKR">Camper Van Beethoven</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4CvZd3qzC2HbLxAoAEBRIL">Ben Gibbard</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:0YrtvWJMgSdVrk3SfNjTbx">Death Cab for Cutie</a> all flew in their own virtual contributions, and in March 2023, the second No Ones album, My Best Evil Friend, was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Yep+Roc%22">Yep Roc</a>. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi