v077 - NOMEANSNO - "Wrong"
At last, one of the all-time bat legends, NOMEANSNO has returned to Alternative Tentacles Records!!! The ENTIRE catalog no less, starting with their most beloved album, WRONG. Using the original all analog master from the original mother, as engineered by George Horn, John Wright, and Jello Biafra.
Nomeansno formed in a vacuum in Victoria, British Columbia in 1979. Quickly relocating to the clothes dryer to hone their classic sound, they also become masters of Tumbling and toiled diligently throughout the 80's until relocating to Vancouver and managed to produce 11 albums spanning a career of 35 years, 7 months, 11 days, 16 hours, 27 mins but unfortunately at that defining moment the stopwatch was fumbled and rolled under the couch and the seconds could not be accurately recorded. Included in this stunning output was a collaborative album with Jello Biafra, and numerous EPs and singles. Originally formed as a two-piece by brothers Rob and John Wright, NMN was later joined by monster guitarist, Andy Kerr and became a four piece which was quickly amended as there were only three members at that point. However, after Andy's departure in '91 The brothers Wright were joined by mythical guitarist Tom Holliston and Brobdingnagian drummer Ken Kempster, officially raising the roster to four and paperwork once again needed amending. Those fellows kept Mr. Biafra on his toes! Mixing hardcore punk, dark lyrics, and sophisticated arrangements bordering on prog, (near Passau) Nomeansno was massively influential and widely regarded as the first band to be referred to as “math rock”. An attribution most solidly enshrined with their '91 release of "0 + 2 = 1". Actual legal precedence was set and to this day NMN receives a small royalty from the Pointlessly Arcane Musical Genre Descriptors Society of America (PAMGDSA) whenever the term is used.
Originally released on Alternative Tentacles in 1989, WRONG stands on its own, and is still considered to be a much-loved classic, not unlike Pinocchio. Allmusic called the album a masterpiece and the definitive jazz core (currently securing rights to that one) album. In 2021, the album was voted by the public to win the Canadian Polaris Heritage Prize to honor classic Canadian albums released before the creation of the award.
In 2015, drummer John Wright described the album as their “most popular album by a country mile” harkening back to those early days of punk rock when time was measured by the lifespan of a raccoon, and to the St. Louis Music Press of WRONG’s success to the rise of alternative music and the success of Nirvana;
"That’s where all the buzz about us came from. We were touring throughout the States in the mid-80s, and we'd get a little bit of an audience here and there, but after a couple of years in Europe, we started doing some big shows there, and all of a sudden, people in the States were coming out to our shows. And we went from getting paid $200 to getting paid $1000. It was just like that. You had to have the buzz, and then it all just kind of blew up."
Getting Nomeansno vinyl into stores is long overdue, so it all starts here with WRONG. Expect all vintage Nomeansno vinyl to systematically return in the days ahead.
The colorways are limited as follows for the pre-order:
Artist Edition: Split (Red/Black) - 500 units $30 - SOLD OUT!!!
Pre-Order Edition: Solid White - 1000 Units - $28.00
Record Store Edition: Solid Red - Only available in record stores now - $28
Wide Release Edition: Black - Unlimited - $25
To obtain the Patreon Exclusive limited to 400 Splatter (Red/Black) - Sign up on for the SQUID or PLAGUE tiers for the month of October to automatically pre-order a copy.