The band have never had, or have ever seemed to pursue, strong mainstream success, but they do have a devoted underground following in North America and Europe. They tour fairly often on both continents and maintain a dedicated fan base.
The band was formed in 1979 by brothers Rob Wright (bass guitar and vocals) and John Wright (drum set, keyboards and vocals). Their name derives from an anti-date rape slogan. For their first four years the duo's music would seem to be influenced as much by jazz and progressive rock as punk rock. The musical press described their earliest recordings as "Devo on a jazz trip, Motörhead after art school, or Wire on psychotic steroids." NoMeansNo have been credited with being an influence on, and perhaps even the genesis of, math rock.
The brothers Wright began recording as a two-piece in their parents' basement in 1979. These recordings, heard on their first two self-released 7"s, consisted of full rock band arrangements and had a new wave, warped-pop sound, different from subsequent recordings. When, in the early 1980s, the duo began gigging simply with bass, drums and vocals, the present form of their distinct sound slowly took shape. The songs they played in this period are documented on the "Mama" LP (re-released in 2004 on their own Wrong Records.)
In 1984, they added Andy Kerr (who played with John Wright in Infamous Scientists) on guitar and vocals. Kerr preferred pseudonymity and used such pseudonyms as "Buttercup" or "None-Of-Your-Fucking-Business". He brought a distinct hardcore punk edge to the group, and stayed until 1991. He is often erroneously credited for penning the lyrics of NoMeansNo songs 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). Kerr's vocals were a necessity for a period of time in the 1980s when Rob Wright was recovering from nodules on his vocal cords. While Rob Wright is the band's lyricist and main songwriter, all members have contributed songs to NoMeansNo records, and nearly all their material is credited to the entire band.
Wrong is widely considered the band's best and most representative 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").
After Kerr's departure, the Wright brothers recorded "Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?" as a duo. They subsequently recruited guitarist Tom Holliston from Showbusiness Giants and The Hanson Brothers, and have continued touring and releasing records, including "Worldhood of the World (as such)", "Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie", "One", and most recently, "All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt" which was released on August 22, 2006. The album was released by AntAcidAudio in the United States and Southern Records in Europe.
The album "One", released in 2000, featured "two stunning covers that only make sense coming from NoMeansNo": a slow stoner rock-styled version of The Ramones' Beat On The Brat, and rather authentic fifteen-minute version of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, (complete with electric piano and congas) featuring lyrics by Rob.
NoMeansNo initially released records with seminal punk rock record label Alternative Tentacles. This relationship ended in 2002. The band has since been reissuing old albums through Southern Records under their own Wrong Records imprint.
Even their earliest recordings demonstrate impressive instrumental technique ("some of the most complex instrumentation you're ever likely to find in punk rock"). Jazz has been an influence on the group; Rob's basslines have a loping, melodic quality often reminiscent of Charles Mingus, and John's drumming sometimes sounds a bit like Elvin Jones or Art Blakey.
NoMeansNo's output features a seemingly endless flow of "Wright/wrong/right" puns, and significant measures of black humour, with "pointedly warped lyrics", such as on "Dad" from Sex Mad. The song was a minor college radio hit, and has been called "a bit chilling, even though it's spit out at slam-pit's pace". The first person narrator details a rampaging father's physical and sexual abuse, ending with what's been called a "killer end touch—the baldly delivered line 'I'm seriously considering leaving home.'". One critic (while noting the group's "savage intelligence") suggests that NoMeansNo might well be "the secret influence on a fair amount of both early-'90s math rock and emo, what with the barely controlled fervour of the singing and the sudden jerks back and forth in the rhythm section."
Equally striking about the band's back catalogue is their ability to jump from style to style and still maintain their musical identity. They leap from dirge to thrash, complication to simplicity, discordant to melodic and still sound like themselves.
John's drumming style has been mentioned as an influence to others, including Dave Grohl.
NoMeansNo's alter ego is TheHanson Brothers, a quartet with John singing and different drummer. Nearly a Ramones tribute band, the Hanson Brothers play fun punk rock as a mock group of backward Canadian ice hockey fans. The lyrics centre on ice hockey, beer and girls. The name comes from characters in the 1977 George Roy Hill film Slap Shot, starring Paul Newman.
Rob Wright's alter ego is Mr. Wrong, who dresses as an authoritarian priest and often poses with a shotgun. Mr. Wrong is simply Wright on bass and vocals with no other instrumentation. It is rumoured that Wright also plays upright bass in a traditional jazz band who play standards, but he keeps this side of his life fuzzy in interviews.
Tom Holliston released several albums with his band Showbusiness Giants as well as three solo albums.
Andy Kerr and John Wright played in the early 1980s in the Infamous Scientists. Kerr, after leaving NoMeansNo, released a solo CD and collaborated with Victoria musician Scott Henderson in Hissanol. Kerr most recently has begun a duo called Two Pin Din in the Netherlands.
0 + 2 = 1
NoMeansNo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Race to the finish line at a dead run
Live is short and love is fleeting -
Before these masks, haloed with snakes
Hissing like rain on the pavement
The blind are deafened and the lame are made dumb
For that queer equation this is the sum:
0 +2 =1
0 +2 =1
Before the feast, chops on the block!
A word, to the wise, is a fork into flesh.
Everything streched under God's great hand:
A mouth to an breast, an axe to a tree,
The hoot of an owl in the dreams of a mouse -
Count on your fingers, it's the rule of the thumbs, but
0 +2 =1
0 +2 =1
Yes and no are like day and night,
One breaks as the other is falling.
Questions the answers, stir the solutions,
In the end, for light, you must burn your conclusions;
Night and darkness love silence above all,
Not the equations of sun-loving apes,
Or their prayers for the dead of a world that's to come
0 +2 =1
0 +2 =1
It may not be nice, it may not be fun,
It may just be a halo of hissing snakes.
But if nothing is something, if to rise is to fall,
Then a child needs a name like a corpse needs a pall -
Nonsense is better than no sense at all.
Hail to the lies by which all truths are hounded!
Teh murder is done, the temple is founded
Where the current is grounded ist circuitry hums:
0 +2 =1
(These events are the same, in a differnet chain
For the myth of logic and ist heroes)
1-2= ?)
The lyrics of "0 + 2 = 1" by NoMeansNo are cryptic and enigmatic, full of metaphors and obscure references, challenging the listener to decode their meaning. The song seems to be a meditation on the nature of reality, the paradoxes of life, and the limitations of human knowledge. The title of the song itself proposes an absurd mathematical formula that defies logic and reason, suggesting that the universe or God might be playing a cosmic joke on us. The first verse starts with an image of a race to the finish line, a metaphor for the rush of life, but also the futility of trying to win a race that ends in death. The masks haloed with snakes may represent the illusions and deceptions that people wear to hide their true selves, but also the venomous aspects of human nature, such as envy, greed, or lust. The blind and the lame may symbolize the limitations of human perception and mobility, or the subjugation of the weak by the strong. The queer equation that sums up the verse suggests that things are not always what they seem, that reality can be twisted and bent, that the world can be a strange and nonsensical place.
The second verse continues with the theme of violence and sacrifice, as the feast of life requires chopping off the meat, or making sacrifices for the greater good. The word to the wise may refer to the power of language, both to enlighten and to hurt. Everything stretched under God's great hand could imply a sense of divine providence, but also a feeling of insignificance and powerlessness. The hoot of an owl in the dreams of a mouse may hint at the vulnerability and fragility of life, the predator-and-prey cycle, and the randomness of fate. The rule of the thumbs may suggest that we rely on our instincts, our intuitions, and our traditions, rather than on our rational faculties to navigate the world. The repetition of the queer equation reinforces the idea that we cannot make sense of everything, that sometimes we have to accept the absurd and the paradoxical as part of our reality.
The third verse contrasts the opposites of light and darkness, day and night, yes and no, and suggests that the boundaries between them are fluid and porous. Questions and answers may lead to more questions and uncertainties, creating a chain of endless doubts and paradoxes. To find light, one must go through the darkness, burn one's conclusions, and embrace the unknown. The sun-loving apes and their prayers for the dead of a world that's to come may allude to the human aspiration for immortality, or to the creation of myths and religions to cope with the fear of death. Ultimately, the queer equation undermines the apparent order and causality of the universe, suggesting that things may happen in a different chain, a different myth.
Line by Line Meaning
Race to the finish line at a dead run
Hurry up, life is short
Live is short and love is fleeting -
Life is brief and love is temporary
Before these masks, haloed with snakes
People are sometimes deceitful and cunning
Hissing like rain on the pavement
They are often sly and slippery
The blind are deafened and the lame are made dumb
Sometimes the vulnerable are also oppressed
For that queer equation this is the sum:
The statement '0 + 2 =1' represents something unusual
Before the feast, chops on the block!
There is imminent danger or threat
A word, to the wise, is a fork into flesh.
Advice can be painful and brutal
Everything streched under God's great hand:
The universe is vast
A mouth to an breast, an axe to a tree,
Some things are nurturing, some are destructive
The hoot of an owl in the dreams of a mouse -
The powerful can easily intimidate the weak
Count on your fingers, it's the rule of the thumbs, but
Basic arithmetic is something we can rely on
Yes and no are like day and night,
Sometimes opposites are clearly defined
One breaks as the other is falling.
Change is constant
Questions the answers, stir the solutions,
Asking questions is important to finding solutions
In the end, for light, you must burn your conclusions;
To find truth, you may need to challenge your own beliefs
Night and darkness love silence above all,
Sometimes there is comfort in silence and solitude
Not the equations of sun-loving apes,
Science cannot explain everything
Or their prayers for the dead of a world that's to come
Religion may offer answers to things science cannot
It may not be nice, it may not be fun,
The truth isn't always pleasant or enjoyable
It may just be a halo of hissing snakes.
The truth can be unpleasant or painful
But if nothing is something, if to rise is to fall,
There can be paradoxes and contradictions
Then a child needs a name like a corpse needs a pall -
There is great importance in naming things
Nonsense is better than no sense at all.
Even something that seems nonsensical can have value
Hail to the lies by which all truths are hounded!
Truth can be elusive and difficult to find
The murder is done, the temple is founded
Sometimes terrible acts are committed in the name of righteousness
Where the current is grounded ist circuitry hums:
There is a sense of power and energy
(These events are the same, in a differnet chain
History can repeat itself in different forms
For the myth of logic and ist heroes)
The idea of logic is often romanticized
(1-2= ?)
The meaning of '0+2=1' is still unclear and open-ended
Contributed by Logan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@hoxdem3629
1. Now 00:00
2. The Fall 05:11
3. 0+2=1 10:40
4. The Valley Of The Blind 15:35
5. Mary 18:24
6. Everyday I Start To Ooze 24:29
7. When Putting It All In Order Ain't Enough 29:03
8. The Night Nothing Became Everything 31:56
9. I Think You Know 33:22
10. Ghosts 35:23
11. Joyful Reunion 43:20
for mobile
@davidsparkman7007
Among a blistering number of great 80s and 90s AUTHENTIC punk bands, these guys are absolutely the top of the heap. The seething nihilism that permeates the lyrics combined with the uncommonly creative and, frankly, highly skillful musicianship expressed by every member of NoMeansNo has fascinated me for decades. I am about to turn 50, and today, I am listening to 0+2=1 and enjoying it just as much as I did back in 1991 when I bought the vinyl record of this one at Shangri-La Records in Memphis, TN. I never got to see them live back then, but I sure wish I had!
@ilsonilson7113
Happy belated!
@njandrews4105
It’s crazy to me being from Victoria how much of an impact this band had on people and I’m pissed off with myself for not seeing them when I’ve had literally hundreds of opportunities but never did even as a punk rock kid myself.. they were usually playing at clubs and bars when I was too young and by the time I was old enough I lost interest in punk rock..big regret
@tom98781
Fuck yeah man
@eAknot
When the album sounds like less perfect than played live.. ive seen them around that time, these dudes are not human, 2hrs brutal perfection i walked out with a different brain structure i guess.
@denisesnoddy3903
On of my favorites, so many memories!! Gawwd I geek out hard. Still have sweat on paper from them
@martinwagner2743
Word!!! i saw them many times in munich, everytime for a fair ticket price, like it should be, and way over 2 hours!.... one time in Ulm the drummer éxcused himself after 3,5 (!!!!) hours playing due he hit his fingers on that snare rim....
@eAknot
@Martin Wagner what a whimp.....:))) as far as i know they are Appalachian breed, that explains everything...i have never encountered such a density of capable musicians as within the Country/Bluegrass scene, they got Al di Meolas, John McLaughlins and Paco de Lucias like galore....
@genemott1499
@Martin Wagner WoW How awesome
@natti1519
I envy you so much guys