Nomeansno - CD collection

[21-12-2024]

Where to even begin with Nomeansno? Nomeansno are the kind of band that all of your favourite bands look up to. I got to Nomeansno pretty late but I did a lot of catching up and they have since become one of my favourite bands. When I first went out of my way to listen to them, I could immediately tell that this band was something special, although it took a while for them to really click, which for parts of their multifaceted discography was also thanks to the No Means No Thing podcast that made a lot of their music more accessible to me, helped me understand its brilliance and feel its impact. I could tell for a long time that they've been one of the most forward thinking punk bands of all time, but getting to the point where I was actually feeling that emotionally took some work, but I'm glad I got there because it's very rewarding.

Nomeansno was formed around 1980 in Victoria in British Columbia by the two brothers Rob and John Wright, on bass and drums respectively, and even through a few lineup changes, these two have been the core of the band's music throughout their whole career. The jazzy, experimental EP Betrayal, Fear, Anger, Hatred and the debut full lenth album Mama were recorded as that bass and drums two piece with just occasional overdubs of other instruments like piano and guitar. Eventually though, they were joined by guitarist Andy Kerr, who initially remained anonymous, for the EP You Kill Me and the second studio album Sex Mad (which honestly has the best album art of all time). Although the bass continues having a very prominent role in the compositions, the addition of a dedicated guitarist turned the band into the intensely powerful force that we know them as today. Despite this intensity, they lost nothing of their heavily jazz influenced proggyness or the grandiose lyricism, which at times was of (socio)political nature, but more often than not would be concerned with deeply personal topics or even big questions about life, perception or existence itself. I would be amiss not to mention that they're very much having fun though. Despite all the darkness and depths explored in their songs, often absurdist humor is very much a central element to their writing. The trio of Rob, John and Andy is the lineup that they recorded most of their legendary material with, from the aforementioned Sex Mad, the intense slow-burn Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed with its supplementary The Day Everything Became Nothing EP, to the legendary Wrong that is home to many of the band's most well known songs and perfects the combination of abrasive punk intensity and mind melting jazz prog boundary pushing, it's supplementary EP The Power of Positive Thinking (on all albums so far, the EPs were included on the CD releases of the album and don't have a standalone release), as well as possibly my personal favourite, the highly versatile 0 + 2 = 1. They also recorded The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy with Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra, although this one more feels like a Jello solo project where Nomeansno merely play as a backing band, as Jello's lyricism and vocal delivery very much stands in the foreground here and stands in stark contrast with the usual approaches the band takes.

At this point, Andy Kerr leaves the band, supposedly to withdraw from busy touring and the life in the spotlight, something that's already been a topic several years prior: Small Parts's title track, which sounds like him painfully clawing himself up a mountain cliffside, getting more and more desperate and aggravated with every pull, reads as a scathing vent about his frustrations of being treated as content, as mere entertainment. Rob and John continue as a two-piece, and record the absolutely brutal Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?, an album that, despite the reduced personnel, stands out through many complex, proggy arrangements and some of the most intense and inaccessible songs the band has ever recorded. But their time as a two-piece doesn't last long. Shortly after, they are joined by new longtime collaborator Tom Holliston on the guitar, who would stay with the band for the rest of their career, and for a brief few years, another member joins, turning them into a four-piece. You might think that a natural move would be to add a second guitarist or a keyboardist, but no, the fourth member was Ken Kempster, on drums. Around the mid 90s, Nomeansno played as a four-piece with two drummers, set up on stage to be facing each other, for an even more intense percussive experience. This lineup didn't last long, however, they recorded two EPs and the album The Worldhood of the World (as such). This album, though, represents the lighter and bouncier side of their discography and does not suggest something as pummeling as a duel drum lineup (which in my opinion might've been more fitting on the previous album), the benefit of which seems to have mostly been reserved for the live shows at the time. By the time the next album comes around, they're back to being a three-piece, as the durable late career lineup of Rob, John and Tom that would last until the end. Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie (did I spell that right?) is a wild mix of an album with everything from light melodic punk rock songs, to long winding epics, to bursts of face-melting intensity. On their next and penultimate full length album One they would lean further into the long winding epics, with nearly all songs being at least 6 to 8 minutes. This album features my favourite Nomeansno song, the introspective, very atmospheric opener The Graveyard Shift that reliably puts tears into my eyes, as well as a 15 minute long reimagining of Miles Davis' Bitch's Brew. As leftovers from One, they released the EP Generic Shame, which continues the path of the album, featuring just 3 tracks over a runtime of 22 minutes, the last of which being... ska? Yeah I can see why that one didn't fit the album. It's nice to get a reminder that the band still enjoys having fun after all this gloominess, though. The final album would come a whole 10 years before their retirement, 2006s All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt. Being from Germany, I very much appreciate the silliness of this title, "Ausfahrt" being the signs pointing to exit ramps on German highways, but at the same time, feeling a sense of existential dread from the title so fitting with many of the band's lyrical themes. Like yeah, all roads lead to Ausfahrt. That's funny. But also, all roads lead to the exit. It's all end, eventually, no matter where you go. You can't avoid the Ausfahrt forever. Ausfahrt comes for us all. Sorry, I just stared into the void. Gotta stop doing that. Anyways, this fittingly titled final album is musically actually a lot more digestible than previous ones, focusing more on tight melodic punk rock songs, although it does have a couple of highly complex existential epics on it. Anyways, they did release new music after this, so I don't think this title was intended to be a statement at the time, however, they never made another album again. The only music that came after this was in the form of two more tour EPs released as USB sticks and vinyl a couple of years later, until they called it quits in 2016.

Anyways, back to me and my discs. All of these albums are very much out of print and highly sought after, so finding copies that are even somewhat affordable was extremely difficult. Wrong has recently been reissued by their former label Alternative Tentacles, and supposedly other albums are to follow, but as of right now, they're hard to find. The first one I got my hands on was the Jello Biafra album that I found at a local second hand store for a very lucky 10€, but for everything after, I had to put in a lot more work. Look, okay, I don't make a lot of money. I can't justify spending 40€ on a CD. So pretty much all of these are the result of me regularly scanning through ebay and getting lucky on auctions over the course of several years. So I am beyond happy that after all this time I finally have a full set of studio albums. When I started getting into this band, getting all of them seemed like a pipe dream, but as it turns out, patience pays off, eventually. Honestly, these may be my most prized possessions. Packaging wise, these are kept pretty simple. I am a huge fan of a lot of their artwork, but the cases and lyric booklets are pretty minimalistic. I'm glad to have them though, as a lot of sources online have them transcribed wrong. Particularly One, which might've been one of the most expesive CDs I ever bought, feels a little disappointing, as it has very plain artwork and a mere single folded sheet of paper for a booklet. Don't regret it though. That's the disc that has The Graveyard Shift on it. That being said, although this is a full set of studio album, it is not really a complete collection, but it's complete enough to feel satisfied now. I will continue scanning ebay though. Firstly, there's the legendary live album Live + Cuddly that documents their wild improvisational energy during the Andy era and that I've often seen cited as one of the greatest punk live albums of all time. There's the rarities collection One Down & Two to Go, released during the brief period where they were back as a two-piece. There's the two EPs released with two drummers, Would We Be Alive? and In the Fishtank. And finally, there's the best of The People's Choice. Maybe one day I'll have a truly finished collection, but I think this is pretty good for now. If that ever happens, I'll keep you updated on it.