Strange Days 

Amy Wright 

It is often said that great art come out adversity. While good times are better for society as a whole, in terms of art and culture creation it is the dark and uncertain times that inspire the most fierce and original work. Rarely was this truer than in the 1980’s. It can be difficult now to really appreciate how bad the ‘80’s really were. Especially compared to what is happening now. Except, Donald Trump still has yet to tell the poor that ketchup qualifies as a vegetable as Ronald Reagan was famous for doing and there is no record of Prime Minister Theresa May saying that homosexuals should be put into concentration camps. Which is more than can be said for Maggie “Iron Lady” Thatcher. The AIDS crisis was just starting, hundreds of people dying a year and the tensions between nuclear powers went somewhat beyond some school-yard name- calling. Such conditions could not help but have an impact on the art of the day, particularly in the music industry.

While it existed before then, the 1980’s saw the first real push in what has come to be known as the “indie” music scene, especially pushed along by the latter day American Punk scene, independent and creator owned record labels being the order of the day, carrying acts considered too strange or shocking for the mainstream. Which, considering that the mainstream at the time included Alice Cooper and early-Metallica, is really saying something. Though visual shocks and tonal intensity are one thing, still sitting into the realm of accessibility. Executives and promoters at the time had no idea what to do with the strange or avant-garde, the ‘80’s Weirdo Renaissance giving rise to bands such as The Germs, They Might Be Giants and The Pixies in the States. Though truly ground-breaking, things were arguably weirder North of the Border. Canada has always been known for its music scene and this is no exception. The ‘80’s gave rise to seminal punk bands such as D.O.A. and the Canadian version of The SubHumans, which were as obscure if not more so than their American counter-parts, even Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra getting on Oprah on occasion. The Canadian scene was a bit more insular and local, few of the bands touring outside their own Province, partly due to practical reasons given the size of the landmass, records being mostly sold at shows and through local shops. Such was the case for brilliant but little known West Coast band NoMeansNo.

Formed in Victoria, British Columbia by brothers Rob and John Wright in 1979, NoMeansNo redefined what a band could be, not only in Punk but popular music in general. Not only were they a duo without any sort of support staff, they were also basically a rhythm section with Rob on bass, John on drums and both of them singing. Yet, so talented were each of the Brothers Wright at their respective instruments, one barely notices the absences of guitars. Or, indeed the presence of them when it occurs, first with Andy Kerr  from 1983-1989 and then with Tom Holliston from 1993-2016. There is no use for egos here, every element being as 

important as another. An egalitarian spirit give physical manifestation by the fact that John’s drums are set up in line with Rob’s mic-stand at the front of the stage. Something not even Don Henley managed to get in The Eagles. They also more or less invented Math Rock, all of their songs being notoriously difficult to play. They are also notable for their versatility and variance both in terms of lyrical content, literally having a song about math called “0+2=1” but also the tempos and styles of their songs. Most commonly referred to as a Punk band, there are several songs that defy this label such as “Victory”.

A slow, precise track with a title cleverly belies the content (“And what do I see?/Standing like a wall, in front of me/Defeat, not victory), with a bass-line more befitting a Jazz band. It also clocks in at over five minutes, demolishing the “two-minute punk song” stereotype. Sometimes they even change styles within a single song. Such is the case with the track “I Need You”.

Starting out as a slow, deliberate semi-love song, somewhere around the forth minute, following a build up, the song goes to a bridge that sounds like a different song entirely for nearly a minute before returning to the previous theme for over two minutes until the end. Ironically, unlike The Pixies who had to go the Britain, at least initially, to get a record deal but still found success in the States, NoMeansNo were never famous in North America outside the West Coast of Canada but have a massive following in Western Europe, particularly the Netherlands.

Things were even stranger in Britain, however, the combination of Thatcherism, austerity, the aftermath of the Punk movement known as New Wave and a general national history and reputation for eccentricity (how else does one explain the popularity of blood pudding?) created the prefect storm of elements. Even some of the most popular mainstream bands such as Adam and the Ants, Magazine and Ultravox had some touches of storage. Though the Bampot Award in terms of mainstream bands has to go to Killing Joke. Named after a blissfully surreal Monty Python sketch about a lethally funny joke, the band also has a morbid sense of jocularity. While their most famous songs have titles such as “Eighties”, there are also songs such as “Hosannas From the Basement in Hell”, which needs to be seen to be believed.

There is no shortage of oddities these days but the impact has become somewhat less as the paradigm has shifted toward the Internet. Experimental electronic bands and surreal comedy duos existing along side official video releases by Top 40 artist signed to major labels on streaming sites. Whether or not this this is, ultimately, a positive development remains to be seen.