Washington DC · hardcore punk · screamo

NØ MAN

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DC/Baltimore chaotic hardcore fronted by Maha Shami — searing, political, and cathartic, carrying the region's screamo lineage forward.

NØ MAN is a hardcore band from the Washington DC and Baltimore area, a quartet built around vocalist Maha Shami with guitarist Matthew Michel, bassist Kevin Lamiell and drummer Pat Broderick, several carrying roots in the region's late-1990s and 2000s screamo scene, including members of Majority Rule.

The music is fast, dissonant and short-form, with abrupt structures and Shami's screamed vocals carried high in the mix. Across three albums, among them Erase, Glitter and Spit and the self-produced Between The Sword And The Neck, the songwriting has grown heavier and more direct with each release.

Shami's lyrics are explicitly political, drawing on her Palestinian-American background and the concept of sumud, steadfastness in the face of subjugation. The new record's title comes from a line by the Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, and its lyrics also draw on the poets Mahmoud Darwish and Fadwa Tuqan.

The album brings family and collaborators directly into the songs: Shami's daughter sings on one track, her mother Kamelah Shami contributes voice and poetry to another, and guest vocalists from HIRS and FAIM appear on the opener. Live, the group is known for a direct, unadorned intensity.

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