Sunday’s Soundtrack for Surfing: NoMeansNo…..I know….

….quite a departure from what you may have come to expect from SSfS, but I was taking a little trip down memory lane and had to share.

This is what I was listening to in high school and into my numerous failed attempts to do the college thing. In the dark times known as The Eighties and the even darker Nineties.

Still to this day one of my all-time favorite bands.

Really, it’s mostly the rhythm section. Two brothers whose blood clearly crosses from drums to bass and back again. I have never heard two tighter players.

Ok, it’s the lyrics too.

“Critic Martin Popoff described their music as “the mightiest merger between the hateful aggression of punk and the discipline of heavy metal.”Nomeansno’s distinct hardcore punk sound, complex instrumentation, and dark, “savagely intelligent” lyrics inspired subsequent musicians. They are often considered foundational in the punk jazz and post-hardcore movements, and have been cited as a formative influence on the math rock and emo genres.” — (from Wikipedia)

Yes, “savagely intelligent”.

Technically incomparable, even if it’s not your cup of tea. Hopefully you can appreciate it regardless. I’m not personally a big polka fan but I think I could appreciate a really great polka band. So these guys are kinda like that.

Give it a listen. At least to the 6 minute mark but preferably all the way to the end. (Or if you want to skip directly to that technically-incomparable-same-wavelength-brother-drummer-bassist part go straight to the 29:27 mark.)

Plug it in. Press play. Go on about your day.

But Do it loudly.

Tell your neighbors to….well….you know….(strong language warning)…

Most of these songs are from the album Wrong which is pure genius beginning to end.

Have a Hardcore Sunday–