Nomeansno - 0 + 2 = 1

It's hard to say why it took me so long to actually check out Nomeansno. There's any number of fingers one could point: capricious youth, lack of access, no shining light. If nothing else, I guess I just lacked the curiosity, a weird thing to say, considering how often in the late 90s I'd heard them compared to Fugazi, who remain the lodestone of my musical taste.

I mean, it's weird, right? A bunch of songs that're longer than 4 minutes long? No mosh parts? Odd beats and off-beat vocals? Tuneless and at times unpleasant? This more Devo than Bad Religion, a statement that in 1996 probably would have bummed me out, but in 2021 perks my ears up. It's progressive punk, for lack of a better description. It's just a bit more off-kilter than the average early 90s touring punk band. Carnival music for smart kids and beat poets, I suppose. Small wonder this came out on Alternative Tentacles, who were deep into their heyday as home for this sort of punk weirdness.

I've turned up a few Nomeansno records and tapes in recent months at a variety of local shops; a welcome development, since most of their physical catalog is out of print and only a sampling of their discography is available on Bandcamp. "0 + 2 = 1" is one of those that's not currently up on Bandcamp, so, here you go. Make your own choices, buds.

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