Nomeansno is a rock music group originally from Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada and now located in Vancouver, British
Columbia.
The band was formed in 1979 by brothers Rob Wright (bass
guitar and vocals) and John Wright (drum set, keyboards and vocals). Their name
derives from an anti-date rape slogan. For their first four years the duo music
would seem to be influenced as much by jazz and progressive rock as punk rock.
The musical press described their earliest recordings as "Devo on a jazz
trip, Motörhead after art school or Wire on psychotic steroids."
Even their earliest recordings demonstrate impressive
instrumental technique ("some of the most complex instrumentation you're
ever likely to find in good ol' punk rawk"). Jazz has exerted an
influence on the group: Rob's basslines have a loping, melodic quality often
reminiscent of Charles Mingus, and John's drumming sometimes sounds a bit like
Elvin Jones or Art Blakey.
In 1983, they added Andy Kerr (who played with John Wright
in Infamous Scientists) on guitar and vocals. Kerr preferred pseudonymity and
used such pseudonyms as "Buttercup" or "None of your fucking
business". He brought a distinct hardcore punk edge to the group, and
stayed until 1991. He is often erroneously credited for penning the lyrics of
Nomeansno songs on which he sang, perhaps due to deliberately vague liner notes
and frequent vocal moonlighting (Kerr sings lead or co-lead vocals on nearly
half the songs on Wrong for example). Kerr's vocals were a necessity for a
period of time in the 80s when Rob Wright was recovering from nodules on his
vocals chords. It is, however, generally understood that Rob Wright is the
band's lyricist and main songwriter.
After Kerr's departure, the Wright brothers recorded Why Do
They Call Me Mr. Happy? as a duo. They subsequently recruited guitarist Tom
Holliston from Showbusiness Giants and The Hanson Brothers, and have continued
touring and releasing records, including Worldhood of the World (as such),
Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie, One, and most recently, All Roads Lead To
Ausfahrt.
Nomeansno's output features a seemingly endless flow of
"Wright/wrong/right" puns, and significant measures of black humor,
with "pointedly warped lyrics", such as on "Dad" from Sex Mad.
The song was a minor college radio hit, and has been called "a bit
chilling, even though it's spit out at slam-pit's pace". The first person
narrator details a rampaging father's physical and sexual abuse, ending with what's
been called a "killer end touch — the baldly delivered line 'I'm seriously
considering leaving home.'". One critic (while noting the group's
"savage intelligence") suggests that Nomeansno might well be
"the secret influence on a fair amount of both early-'90s math rock and
emo, what with the barely controlled fervor of the singing and the sudden jerks
back and forth in the rhythm section."
The band have never had, or have ever seemed to pursue,
strong mainstream success, but they do have a strong underground following in North
America and Europe. They tour fairly often
on both continents and maintain a dedicated fan base. Wrong is widely
considered the band's best record ("The playing is incredibly skilled,
with the Wright brothers effortlessly shifting tempos and time signatures and
Kerr's razor sharp lyrics clicking right into place.").
The album No One, released in 2000, featured "two
stunning covers that only make sense coming from Nomeansno:" A slow
stoner rock-styled version of The Ramones' Beat On The Brat, and rather
authentic fifteen-minute version of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, (complete with
electric piano and congas) featuring lyrics by Rob.
Nomeansno initially released records with seminal punk rock
record label Alternative Tentacles. This relationship ended in 2002 and
releases are now on the band's own Wrong Records, though most were manufactured
and distributed by Alternative Tentacles.
Nomeansno has recorded a album entitled All Roads Lead to
Ausfahrt which was released on August 22, 2006. The album was released by
AntAcidAudio in the United States
and Southern Records in Europe.
Nomeansno's alter ego is The Hanson Brothers, a quartet with
John singing and different drummer. Nearly a Ramones tribute band, the Hanson
Brothers play fun punk rock as a mock group of backward Canadian ice hockey
fans. The lyrics centre on ice hockey, beer and girls. The name comes from
characters in the 1977 Paul Newman film Slap Shot.
Discography
* Look, here come
the wormies (single) (1980)
* Betrayal, Fear,
Anger, Hatred (E.P.) (1981)
* Mama, (1982)
* You Kill Me
(E.P.), (1986)
* Sex Mad, (1986)
* The Day
Everything Became Nothing (E.P.), (1988)
* Small Parts
Isolated and Destroyed, (1988)
* Wrong, (1989)
* The Power of
Positive Thinking (E.P.), (1990)
* The Sky Is
Falling And I Want My Mommy, (1991). (Collaboration with Jello Biafra).
* Live and Cuddly,
(live!) (1991)
* 0 + 2 = 1,
(1991)
* Why Do They Call
Me Mr. Happy? (1993)
* Oh, Canaduh
(covers of Subhumans and D.O.A. songs) (1993)
* Mr. Right &
Mr. Wrong/One Down & Two To Go, (1994)
* The Worldhood of
the World (as such), (1995)
* Would we be
alive? (E.P.), (1996)
* In the fishtank
vol.1 (E.P.), (1997)
* Dance of the
Headless Bourgeoisie, (1998)
* No One, (2000)
* Generic Shame
(E.P.), (2001)
* Would We Be...
Live? (DVD), (2003)
* The People's
Choice, (compilation & live tracks) (2004)
* Mama (reissue
with extra tracks), (2004)
* Dance of the
Headless Bourgeoisie (remastered with extra tracks), (2005)
* Wrong
(remastered with extra tracks) (2005)
* All Roads Lead
to Ausfahrt (2006)
Also
* Terminal
City Richochet, (1989). Film
soundtrack contributions, along with other artists. See Alternative Tentacles
site for details [1].
* Virus 100,
(1992). Covers of Dead Kennedys songs to celebrate 100 records on Alternative
Tentacles. Nomeansno did an acapella version of Forward to Death.
* Would We
Be...Live? (Live footage of Nomeansno and The Hanson Brothers, filmed in London,
on DVD) (2004)