As much as we love the new single from Taipei-based rockers No Party For Cao Dong, we have to admit the video is even better.

For the last few years, the group’s been maturing and trying different approaches to composing, recording, live shows, and what direction generally they should take. They do sound powerful, drawing inspirations from grunge, stoner, possibly even metal music. But a few bars later, tough, their shouts would tranform into whispers, and overdriven guitars would make way to a beautiful post-rock theme.

This way No Party For Cao Dong (草東沒有派對) deserves to be called a 21st century band, as they add colours to their palette according to what they need at the given moment. As a result, the group’s new album will take you on a truly kaleidoscopic journey.

This new album shows the band socially-aware and concerned about the current situation of young people not only in Taiwan. Its title, “醜奴兒”, has many meanings. It could be literally translated as “Ugly Slaves Children”. It’s also a name of a method of writing poems. And it was a term used for women from lower castes in ancient China.

However, lots of songs on No Party’s record is actually focused on relationships and emotions in micro-scale. And of course love. As the band said, a lot of their music “might sound violent, but it’s actually about love, loving, and anti-violence”.

It might be important to remember that when watching their recent clip, “Shanhai” (山海), a dramatic yet at the same time poetic story about two lost soulmates, and also one of the best music videos we’ve seen recently.

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