Nomeansno - the people’s choice
it is 25 years since canadian hockey obsessed brothers rob and john wright formed nomeansno to vent their peculiar brand of punk jazz funk at the world. and the group, who owe as much in influence to miles davis as they do to the dead kennedys, have the dubious honour of being probably the most cynical and misanthropic band on the face of the planet. to celebrate the quarter century of vented spleen they have compiled this ‘greatest hits’ package. (or rather their fans have voted for their favourite tracks via email.) straight away you notice the problems that always beset retrospectives. why are there no tracks from debut album ‘mama’ here? why isn’t ‘slowly melting’ included? surely this would have been better as a double? but the truth of the matter is, there isn’t a bad song on this album and it serves as an excellent introduction to the band. ‘humans’ sees nmn applying complex jazz polyrhythms to the power pop formula and striking gold. we are reminded of what a formidable live band they make with the inclusion of ‘the day everything became nothing’ (live) and an intense radio session version of ‘the river’. even when they are playing funk metal, they have enough wit, skill and anger to turn in something as furious and tight as ‘rags ‘n bones’. nomeansno come on like chris morris and pil era john lydon fronting a punk version of funkadelic: make them your choice.
(reviewed by john doran)