NoMeansNo, Maybe

I wrote yesterday of The Big Boys. A third(ish or less) of their catalog, the funky part, I never listen to. This brought to mind another band I love when they're not doing stuff I don't get into - Canada's NoMeansNo. If they still exist, please let me know, and if their Ramones alter-egos The Hanson Brothers record again I'll buy each of you a pony.

I'm giving a shout out to my peeps and also giving them their props because when in need I can put my NoMeansNo mix-cd into ye 'ol walkperson and hoist weights like a fiend. Some tunes hit me like a cattle prod up the wazoo, which I usually pay extra for, so it's like money in the bank.

Most often a 3-piece centered around husky brothers Rob (lead vocals, bass, guitar) and John Wright (drums and vocals), NoMeansNo have the tightest rhythm section in punk. That cannot be contested and why would you even try? That would just be silly. They're fairly eclectic but their basic sound is steeped in punk, free-form jazz and hard rock. Maybe they're like The Minutemen meet Wagner. To me their weakest songs are their slow, heavy, overlong material, which comprises the bulk of their catalog. But the songs I do like... oh buddy!

Here's most of what's on my mix-cd. The first six tracks are the wazoo prodders I love so much:

The River/I've Got A Gun/Angel Or Devil/Dark Ages/Going Nowhere/I'm An Asshole/Body Bag/Canada Is Pissed/I Get Up In The Morning/Land Of The Living/Oh No Bruno/Joyful Reunion/ Dad. "Dad" is their take on Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized" and I can only listen to it every other blue moon.

Like my main man Stan The Man Lee says, Alka-Seltzer!