How old are these guys anyway? I guess age doesn't matter when you're this cool.

NoMeansNo have been around the punk block quite a few times over the past 14 years. Their early music, on albums such as Mama and You Kill Me, sounded very much like a thrash version of Devo. Back then there were only two people in the band, John and Rob Wright, playing only drums and bass. Electric guitars were added early to flesh out the sound and the next four or five albums evolved for the band a patented sound that is forceful, both expressive and aggressive, fast and tight.

 

NoMeansNo lyrics have always been about the scary things that could, and do, happen in life. For example, it's hard to listen to a song like 'Dad' (now a punk classic about a family with an enraged abusive father) without imagining the horror the song describes. 'The Day Everything Became Nothing' details the confusion and bewilderment experienced the day the earth quietly... dies.

 

NoMeansNo (as far as I'm aware) have never been on Mtv nor have they been played on present day fast-food 'alternative' radio stations. Yet, The Worldhood of the World is the band's 8th full length release and the punk expression here is completely undiminished by time or by the bands' growing underground success. This is punk rock that has not been molested by the corporate ogre; intense music that has been allowed to grow and evolve all on its own (and with a little nourishment by Jello Biafra's kick-ass Alternative Tentacles label).

 

Worldhood kicks off with band members harmonizing as they bash their instruments to a pulp, all in the name of... 'Joy'. The fast tunes are my favorites: 'Angel or Devil' about a bad dream; 'I've Got a Gun' a furious assault that topically out does Body Count's controversial 'Cop Killer' tune of a few years back; and 'Wiggly Worm.'

 

'My Politics' is a musical whirlwind contemplating hatred for hatred's sake: "This is it/My politics/I've learned to hate/That's fucking great." In 'State of Grace' self deception is what's on tap: "I don't trust that voice in my head, it's not mine it's the voice of the dead!/And why do you ask me what I think is true?/I learned it all from you!" There are no throw away tunes here. Worldhood is one tough album.

 

It's always nice when NoMeansNo visits with a new release or a local live show. It reminds us what the punk ethic is all about: Make your record just like you want it; Tour incessantly; Don't talk to the major labels. Thank the lord that all them new fangled so-called 'punk' bands on Mtv can't hold a candle to the old-timers in NoMeansNo.

-MR

Other NoMeansNo stuff...
NoMeansNo Web Site
NoMeansNo Discography