NoMeansNo
"What a horrible band name!", I remember thinking when I first heard of NoMeansNo back when I was fifteen or sixteen years old. I was already into bands like Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. and the Pixies back then. Me and my friends were always on the lookout for new bands and secretly challenging each other to be the first to introduce an artist to the other. How surprised I was when they all seemed to know about NoMeansNo while I never even had heard of them. I didn't try to hide my ignorance, but didn't let it be known either. How bizarre this band sounded to me at first (one of my friends put on his copy of Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy? which he owned on tape); they were definitely really heavy, they sounded a bit sloppy, but the melodies and arrangements were obviously quite complex. Add to that a touch of dark and perverted humor and you've got the gist of what this band is all about. I was personally hooked right from the start. The weird imagery, the pounding math-noise tunes; it sounded completely new to my ears and that's always what I was looking for in a band or artist. I bought a few of their albums on tape soon after and noticed how they often alternated between more complex albums and ostensibly more punk-oriented ones. I never enjoyed the latter as much, but understood where they were coming from when I found out the group was also known as The Hansen Brothers: a comical, Ramones-influenced (just look at the artwork on their albums) tribute band to the characters in the movie Slap Shot and all things hockey.
The shock I got during my initiation to NoMeansNo is nothing compared to the shock I got when I saw them live however. "That must be the managers or roadies on stage right?", I thought when they came on stage. Three of the members looked like scrawny college students and the bassist looked like a humongous, fifty-plus year old hockey coach. They in no way resembled the thugs I had imagined when I first heard their music, but this only added to their amusing personae. I've seen them countless times when they visited Montreal back in the nineties. I even saw them under their Hansen Brothers guise (wearing hockey masks and equipment) and getting hit by a twinky in the face during a food fight. I've since disconnected with the group's career, but I have plenty of fond memories of their earlier albums.
Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?Label: Alternative Tentacles Records Release: 1993 Format: CD Cat. no: VIRUS 123CD |
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