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No Means No
 

No Means No

Fact Sheet

Musical genre:Punk  
City  Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
No Means No (sometimes nomeansno) is a punk rock group originally from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They now reside in Vancouver, British Columbia. They have never been well-known--partly due to the group's reluctance to embrace the trappings of rock star fame--but No Means No maintains a dedicated fan base.

Formed in 1979 by brothers Rob Wright (bass guitar and vocals) and John Wright (drum set), No Means No--their name was adapted from an anti-rape slogan--was for their first four years a duo influenced as much by jazz and progressive rock as punk rock. Even their earliest recordings demonstrate their impressive instrumental technique, a commodity too often rare among punk rockers. No Means No also features a significant measure of black humor, and an endless flow or wright/wrong/right puns.

In 1983, they added Andy Kerr on guitar and vocals. Kerr—who rarely allowed his name on records, preferring to be credited as "Buttercup" or "None of your fucking business"—brought a distinct hardcore punk edge to the group, and stayed through the mid nineties, including Wrong, widely considered the band's best record: "The playing is incredibly skilled, with the Wright brothers effortlessly shifting tempos and time signatures and Kerr's razor sharp lyrics clicking right into place.". As in the previous quotation, Kerr is often erroneously credited for penning the lyrics of songs from No Means No releases on which he sang, perhaps due to deliberately vague liner notes and frequent vocal moonlighting (Kerr sings lead or co-lead vocals on nearly half the songs on Wrong. for example). It is, however, generally understood that Rob Wright is the band's lyricist.

After Kerr's departure, No Means No recruited guitarist Tom Holliston, and have continued releasing records.

2000's One features "two stunning covers that only make sense coming from No Means No" A slow stoner rock-styled version of The Ramones' Beat On The Brat, and rather authentic fifteen-minute version of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, featuring lyrics by Rob.

No Means No have recently ended their long relationship with seminal punk rock record label Alternative Tentacles.

No Means No also perform as The Hanson Brothers: punk rock purists obsessed with girls and ice hockey: especially Paul Newman's 1977 ice hockey film Slap Shot.




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