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Rating: Can there be a mixture of Rush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fugazi, Black Flag? Many would rightly say no… but the most correct answer would be No – Means – No.
Borrowed from a feminist slogan popular in the '70s, the name of the Vancouver band is known only to the closest hardcore enthusiasts, being largely unknown to the Italian public, also due to the unfortunate distribution of the group's albums, recorded starting in the early '80s, and deserving of a rediscovery by DeBaser as well.
The music of Nomeansno is difficult to classify, being a kind of crossover between punk fury, musical architectures worthy of the best progressive, rhythmic groove stolen from the most hypnotic funk, supported by bass lines that effectively blend technique and expressiveness, which in most cases dictate the structure of the songs. The technical compositional skill of the musicians involved in the project (brothers Robert and John Wright on vocals, bass, singing, and drums, and Andy Kerr on vocals and guitar) is, after all, undisputed, although entirely at the service of the emotional impact of the music produced by the trio.
"Wrong" ('89) is one of the band's most accessible albums – as well as easily available in our parts – in which the strengths and limitations of Nomeansno's musical recipe are clearly evident: stripped-down arrangements reduced to the bone, where bass/guitars/drums intertwine to cover all the spaces left empty by Wright's piercing and violent voice, developing a series of dissonant musical themes that often extend beyond the 2, 3 canonical minutes of '80s American hardcore, even the more refined kind (Hüsker Dü); at times, however, the group reveals drops in inspiration and the songs may seem repetitive, especially if listened to in quick succession, perhaps also due to the "monastic" simplicity of the instrumentation and sound effects used, which compress the trio's creativity.
Without boring the reader with a track-by-track review, unnecessary in light of what has just been observed, I will just point out, among the best tracks, the splendid opening duet composed of "It's Catching Up", with its off-kilter and stuttering rhythms, and the granite "The Tower", featuring an anxiety-inducing drum carpet until the explosion of the violent chorus, as well as the essential "Tired of Waiting", punk with lunatic and expressionist hues. The remaining tracks move within the aforementioned coordinates, in my opinion without significant peaks, but with an excellent general average.
In conclusion: fans of alternative music from the '80s and '90s should run to buy it, if it's not already in their discography… melodic palates abstain.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 It's Catching Up (03:29)
Have you heard the news?
The dead walk..
Do you hear that sound?
Do you hear that sound?
Like fingers scratching underground?
Do you hear that sound?
That slamming door?
I’ve fought it all my life
But I can‘t fight it anymore
It‘s catching up, I‘m fucked
A dead duck, shit outta luck
How do you hide from
Something you have found?
Do you hear that sound?
That scratching sound?
Ii it better to be lost or found?
You can‘t ignore it
You can’t talk it away
You can’t drink it away
You can’t fuck it away
It‘s catching up, I‘m fucked
A dead duck, shit outta luck
Give my asylum, let me in
I am mad, you are my only witness
There are some things that never die
Things that really never were alive
I’ve shut them out
I’ve slammed th door
But i can’t keep them back
Anymore
It‘s catching up, I‘m fucked
A dead duck, shit outta luck
02 The Tower (05:11)
The sword of thruth is just another weapon
Let me live for one more second
I see a woman she’s holding flowers
A bouquet of roses that are blood red
From a burning building, a man leaps to his death
I stand above these mansions of the death
Red tombs and above us looms
The Tower
I see red
I see a tower against the sky
Beneath a red unblinking eye
Radiowaves curve and cross
I stand below them – Lost !
Above me is a black obelisk
And the dangers that i risk
Here gather the ghosts of the mind
That tear my heard and here i find
All that traps that have been set
Everything i would forget, beneath
The Tower
I see red
I see a tower against the sky
Beneath a red unblinking eye
Violence is close at hand
You are damned if you do
And if you don’t – Dammed !
A red eye, A tyrant full of hate
Glares from the sky, It’s captive state
If it should blink ordeviate
A thousand words would obliterate
I do not move, nor do i speak
Beneath that hard and pitiless peak
Of concrete , steel and antennae wheels
The Tower
I see red
I see a tower against the sky
Beneath a red unblinking eye
06 The End of All Things (05:11)
You are here
I am here
Fear
Bound in fear
We are here
I see nothing
All is clear
Crystal clear
Fear
All that's here
Pain and fear
I see here
Nothing
Hear the angels sing
This is the end of all things
All is clear
Nothing's here
Fear
What is fear?
Nothing's here
I see here
Nothing
Hear the angels sing
This is the end of all things
07 Big Dick (03:15)
Like a monkey in the zoo
You’re half gorilla too
When you pound it with your fist
And make it real stiff
Big dick
Gotta cover your mistake
Your bloody outtakes
So you dip it in the wine
And make a holy sign
Big dick
Big dick! Come quick
Big dick! Come quick
Well you’re running up a tree
You’re trying not too sream
But you are pounding on your chest
Like you wipped the best
Big dick
The rivers of blood
You’ve spilled have turned to mud
Now the flies are buzzin‘ round
Don’t it make a loud sound
Big dick
Big dick! Come quick
Big dick! Come quick
It won’t be long
Till those bad bits are gone
It won’t be long
Till those bad bits are gone
Now we are sitting by the fire
But daddy’s getting tired
`cause hes drunk the whole crock
now he’s got a limp cock
Big dick
Big dick! Come quick
Big dick! Come quick
09 Rags and Bones (05:05)
Chirst was married on the cross
My father was married to my mother
Am aim married to a cigarette butt
Lying in the gutter
Rags and bones
Are we finally alone?
White man, you
You just started to get the blues
White man, you
You just started to get the blues
Rags and bones
Are we finally alone?
The beast has arisen
The sins are forgiven
In the belly of the beast
I shall be released
She rises captain!
Captain dive! Dive!
If i could choose to belive
Or not to believe
You know i would choose not to
If i could choose to belive
Or not to believe
You know i would choose not to
But i can’t coose
Rags and bones
Are we finally alone?
Whoo would’ve thought that i would be
A sailor on the deep blue sea
Any old rags and bones?
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By Caspasian
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