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.
Sex Mad
NoMeansNo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I have to grab I have to touch
I have to feel your every curve
I have to stir each little nerve
I want the pleasure I want the pain
I want to overload my brain
I'm going SEX MAD
Oh, to be buried in your chest
Or steamy breath and gripping bone
I may be lost but not alone
I'm going in riot coming out
I'm going in not coming out
I'm going SEX MAD
I stare at everything that moves
I look all over pick and choose
Well I don't want just anyone
I only want just everyone
I know it's not for me to take
I think my mind is going to break
I'm going SEX MAD
My self control is very fine
Considering what's on my mind
But I don't want to hurt and hate
I simply have to copulate
The more I see the more I want
The more I see the more I want
I'm going
SEX MAD SEX MAD SEX MAD SEX MAD.
The song "Sex Mad" by NoMeansNo is a straightforward, provocative depiction of sexual desire, with the singer confessing to a near-insatiable longing for physical connection. The lyrics suggest a sense of urgency and desperation, even to the point of borderline obsession, as the singer declares his need to "have you far too much" and "feel your every curve." The idea of pleasure and pain is also invoked, suggesting that the singer seeks not only physical gratification but also an intense emotional connection, one that will "overload [his] brain" and leave him "SEX MAD."
Throughout the song, the singer alternates between a sense of powerlessness ("I may be lost but not alone") and a fierce, almost violent determination to satisfy his desires, even at the risk of losing control or causing harm. The repeated refrain, "I'm going SEX MAD," reinforces this sense of a person on the brink, given over to primal instinct and desire.
Line by Line Meaning
I have to have you far too much
I want you so badly that it's consuming me
I have to grab I have to touch
I have an overwhelming desire to physically grab and touch you
I have to feel your every curve
I crave the sensation of feeling every curve of your body
I have to stir each little nerve
I want to arouse every nerve in your body and make you feel pleasure
I want the pleasure I want the pain
I'm willing to experience both pleasure and pain with you
I want to overload my brain
I want to experience such intense pleasure that it overwhelms my mind
I'm going SEX MAD
My desire for sex is so intense that it feels like madness
I want to squeeze your living flesh
I want to physically squeeze and embrace your body
Oh, to be buried in your chest
I want to be intimately close to you, with my head buried in your chest
Or steamy breath and gripping bone
I want to feel our bodies intertwined, with steamy breath and tight, gripping embrace
I may be lost but not alone
I feel lost in my desire for you, but I'm not alone in this feeling
I'm going in riot coming out
My desire for sex is building inside me and will come out explosively
I'm going in not coming out
I'm so consumed by my desire for you that I might not emerge unchanged
I stare at everything that moves
I'm so obsessed with sex that I'm constantly scanning my environment for potential partners
I look all over pick and choose
I'm being selective in my sexual desires, choosing only those who meet my standards
Well I don't want just anyone
I don't want to have sex with just any random person
I only want just everyone
I want to have sex with everyone who meets my standards
I know it's not for me to take
I understand that I can't just take what I want without consent
I think my mind is going to break
My desire for sex is so intense that I feel like I'm losing my mind
My self control is very fine
I have good self-control, but my desire for sex is overwhelming it
Considering what's on my mind
Despite what's on my mind (sex), I'm able to maintain some level of self-control
But I don't want to hurt and hate
I don't want to engage in sexual activities that are harmful or fueled by hate
I simply have to copulate
I have an innate need to engage in sexual activity
The more I see the more I want
The more I see potential sexual partners, the stronger my desire for sex becomes
SEX MAD SEX MAD SEX MAD SEX MAD
My desire for sex is so powerful that it consumes my entire being
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
HOXDEM
1. Sex Mad - 0:00
2. Dad - 4:15
3. Obsessed - 7:16
4. No Fgnuick - 10:12
5. Love Thang - 10:44
6. Dead Bob - 14:18
7. Self Pity - 20:19
8. Long Days - 27:13
9. Metronome - 32:10
10. Revenge - 37:48
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FRANK LEE SCARLET
A friend from college and nomeansno fanatic would often and affectionately refer to the group as "the only band that matters."
Manny Marr
Then you’d be referring to the clash
suckinspongebobs
@Manny Marr I think you are referring to Sockeye from Ohio
it's ok, easy mixup
Manny Marr
suckinspongebobs haha never heard of em’
suckinspongebobs
rj zander no but those guys played in each others' bands
TzadikTheManic 🇺🇦
I know I’m not saying anything new but holy hell I forgot how unbelievable this album is. I just haven’t played it in ages! Happy moshing all :)
William Stamper
For so many years I thought I was weird for loving this album
Heather S W
this album is fucking amazing. small parts is next.
also, the best part of YouTube is reading the comments under music posts
TzadikTheManic 🇺🇦
No man you just have stellar taste ;)
Raegan Butcher
Great under-rated band. Fantastic album. Saw em open up for the U-men a million yrs ago in Seattle.