The No Ones

A transcontinental pop collective bound by shared admiration, the No Ones unites two prominent American musicians—former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey, frontman of Young Fresh Fellows and the Minus 5—with Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and Frode Strømstad of the respected Norwegian indie pop group I Was a King. The quartet crafts energetic indie rock marked by abundant hooks and a quirky sense of humor. Their first release arrived as the four-track EP Sun Station in 2017, while their debut full-length, The Great Lost No Ones Album, expanded the project's reach in 2020. On 2023's My Best Evil Friend they pursued broader sonic palettes and more ambitious storytelling from McCaughey.

Buck and McCaughey have maintained a lengthy partnership; McCaughey joined R.E.M. as a touring member and contributed to studio work beginning after the 1994 Monster tour, and Buck regularly enlisted him for sessions with Robyn Hitchcock, Alejandro Escovedo, and Filthy Friends. McCaughey also figured prominently on Buck's post-R.E.M. solo albums—2012's Peter Buck, 2014's I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again, and 2015's Warzone Earth—while Buck frequently appeared on recordings by McCaughey's Minus 5 and the Baseball Project, a baseball-themed outfit that also features Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn.

After years of inviting admired collaborators into their projects, Buck and McCaughey crossed paths with Mathisen and Strømstad at Norway's Ice Station Vadsø Festival in 2015, where I Was a King shared the bill. The four connected immediately, prompting Mathisen and Strømstad to propose overdubs on a side project the Americans had underway. Trading song ideas and files across distances, they produced four original tracks without convening in one studio and issued them later that year as Sun Station. Pleased with the results, Mathisen and Strømstad traveled to Portland, Oregon in 2017 to join Buck and McCaughey for five days of recording. Completion stalled after McCaughey suffered a stroke in November 2017 that prevented him from finishing overdubs and mixing, though he recovered fully, and Yep Roc issued The Great Lost No Ones Album in the United States in March 2020.

Canceled Norwegian dates during the COVID-19 pandemic did not halt their momentum; Mathisen and Strømstad continued tracking in Oslo while Buck and McCaughey worked primarily at McCaughey's Portland studio. Remote contributions arrived from Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, Debbie Peterson of the Bangles, Victor Krummenacher of Camper Van Beethoven, and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. Yep Roc released the resulting second album, My Best Evil Friend, in March 2023.