NoMeansNo

http://www.ssmt-reviews.com/artist/nomeans.html#tour1

Sound the trumpets, dim the lights, and chill the ham, Canada's youngest progressive punk band are back with their first new release since 2006! Consistent with my expectations of the group, Tour EP 1 finds Nomeansno in typically unpredictable form. While I became a fan of the band through manic single-genre defying releases such as Wrong and Sex Mad, and then found myself blown away by the looming, first wiry-then-monolithic (yet always highly structured) force of later releases such as Dance Of The Headless Bourgeoisie and One, this EP, like most Nomeansno releases, reveals the band keeping certain familiar elements of their sound intact as they at they simultaneously move into new and interesting sonic directions.

As for what fans may already come to expect, this music is, first and foremost, very rhythm-section oriented. Interplay between the bass and drum parts act as the driving center of focus, upon which Tom Holliston's guitar parts and Rob Wright's thick, deep voice serve to build upon and embellish. The musicianship is typically tight and intricate, and those with a familiarity of Nomeansno's more "epic" tendencies won't be too shocked by the fact that these songs are all fairly long; the shortest being a little over four minutes, with the lengthiest number reaching just past the eight minute mark.

Once we are past these basic features, however, things take a turn for the atypical. For one thing, with the exception of the lumbering, vastness of "Old", Tour EP 1 features some of the most minimalist-sounding music I've ever heard from this outfit. Sure, drums were always a highlight of Nomeansno's sound, but the band seems to have placed a particular emphasis on John Wright's skinwork for this release, with solid but unbusy bass lines locking in over pounding, decidedly tribal-flavored beats. Meanwhile, aside from some constrained note and chord riffing on "Slave", and an admittedly palpable presence on "Old", the guitars here are generally an understated affair, with a part often either being a single chord followed by a note line following in unified step with the bass line, or during looser moments, simply background noise. This isn't to say the guitars are unimportant by any stretch; to the contrary, they help to round out the pounding rigidness of the rhythm instruments with much needed atmosphere, and add a sense of dynamics to the otherwise highly repetitious nature of these songs. Being that this is the case, most of the appeal of this music lies not so much in having it kick your ass with its seething intensity or generating a sense of vast catharsis via grandiose arrangements (even if the songs are long). Rather, these songs work due to the band's ability to build and build upon repeated musical motifs, adding greater and greater depth to each song with each passing measure. Suffice to say, background music this is not. However, if you allow yourself to focus first on that ever-interesting rhythm section, and then shift towards what's going on with the lyrical narratives as the guitars stir up and make their presence known, you'll find that these are not at all simply long, slow, go-nowhere exercises in repetition, but very lush and dynamic musical pieces. And quite smart pieces at that. Those familiar with this group shouldn't expect any less, nor should they be disappointed…even if this is quite different from being some sort of Wrong Part 2: Wronger.

Tour EP 1 is proof that almost thirty years on, Nomeansno continues to remain as vital and interesting as ever, and are still likely to be the most interesting band releasing new music to get filed into the "punk" section at the local record store. This EP may take a few listens for one to fully wrap their head around, but believe you me: when you get it, it gets good. Another fine release from Canada's most loveable band (besides Anvil).

Review by Hunter Brawer

Review date: 04/2010

http://www.vanmusic.ca/canadian-indie-bands/nomeansno

I’ve started, restarted, procrastinated, and then restarted this review so many times. It comes down to a few simple facts. I’m reviewing a band I have been listening to for 15 years, a band that in certain circles has reached iconic status, and for me that makes things difficult. Where do I start? If this was a first album from a band I’d never heard before it would be easy, I could simply compare them to other bands, but in this case thats not fair, and I’m going to try not to do that. NoMeansNo has been around for thirty years, and realistically I should be comparing other bands to them, after all so many artists owe their sound, their influence and their careers to this band, a review is a little daunting.

So I guess a good place to start would be a comparison. In 2006 NoMeansNo released their last Album, “All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt”. It was a great pop punk album. Full of high energy tracks, and it was a fun album. Fast forward to 2010, and “Tour EP 1” is a completely different story. Where All Roads showed off the bands punk influences, Tour EP 1 definitely exhibits their interest in Jazz and Prog-rock, and at least to me it’s a perfect follow up.

Tour EP 1 is rich, and thick and broody. The opening track “Faceless May” is a dark narrative, it represents a darkness that so few artists attempt to create, and even fewer are successful at. It’s also a prime example of what makes NoMeansNo not just a good band but a great band. Just like the change in tone from one album to the next, they pull off similar changes within songs, at the end of “Faceless May” we are teased with a cameo by that other punk NoMeansNo, a change of pacing into the frenetic style many of us have become accustomed to, and then flitters away into the darkness and the end of the track, it’s perfect, and it shows the diversity of the band in one song. I love change ups like these, and they happen time and time again. The little teases, the stops and restarts. “Slave” seems to me to be the most cynical of the four tracks, and retains the most punk rock out of them as well. It’s not fast paced, but still driving and hard, with Rob Wrights bass, and Tom Hollistons guitar layering together to add more punch, and heaviness to John Wrights drums. “Old” is the longest song out of the four and the best example of NoMeansNo teasing us. It builds and builds, and we expect it to just break out and it never does, and it is better because of it. “Old” is a great song and I think will be one of the bands classics. The last song on the record, “Something Dark Against Something Light” is an angry, strange, and dissonant wrap to the EP, and in many ways is everything I look for in a song. Again they return to the strong narrative story telling the began the EP with.

To say NoMeansNo is very good at what they do is an understtement. For thirty years they have been releasing music that is original, it is their own, and over the years they have adapted and changed, and somehow stayed the same. They have incorporated other styles, and other genres. It’s may not be unusual for a band to still be around after thirty years, it’s also not that unusual for a band to be touring after thirty years. What is unusual is that after thirty years most bands are content to sit back on their catalogue of material, to keep the fan base that they developed, not write anything new. Most of these bands are far past their primes, trying to make a comeback, not for the sake of music, but the sake of money. NoMeansNo on the other hand is a band that is well and truly in their prime, they’ve never needed to made a come back because they’ve never quit, and they certainly haven’t faded into irrelevance. They appeal to the fans they made 30 years ago, and have made countless new fans along the way. They are still writing good music, and it’s easy to tell that they still love their craft.