Nots

Nots at all Painful for Listening

These days, resistance is on people’s minds. And Memphis, Tenn., art-punk, self-described “nuevo no wavo” band Nots make an exhilaratingly painful noise that, like the band name itself, stamps a bold, red NO across the face of all the soul-crushing yes-men and sniveling company shills of the world. After all, what else is punk for? But Nots’ 2016 release Cosmetic isn’t exactly protest music, or even protest punk. Nevertheless, songs like “Rat King,” “New Structures” and “No Novelty” draw hard lines in the sand for our new era of punk rock rebellion. Emergency-siren-like guitars and tempos with the urgency and anxiety of urban decay and environmental calamity sit alongside vocalist Natalie Hoffman’s opaque and tuneless holler — an almost Dada-esque response to a time when the future has never been more in doubt. Nots play with Eugene’s Shisho and Critical Shakes, 7 pm Monday, Feb. 13, at The Boreal; $8, All-ages. — Will Kennedy