Ah, NoMeansNo. One of those bands that have been there all along, having moments of brilliance both noticed and missed. You get the feeling these guys have never done anything wrong. If you didn’t like what they’ve done at some point you probably just didn’t get ‘it’; you felt a bit wrong when you knew deep down that you should be feeling right. So it’s with great pleasure I can report that All Roads Lead To Ausfahrt is a riotously superb album — good for NoMeansNo, amazing for anyone else still rocking out after this long a career.
Opener Wake Up switches straight into delicious hyperspeed weirdness before being dispelled by a classic NMN anthem-rocker In Her Eyes. It’s fun all the rest of the way, pretty much. This is a band kicking back and enjoying the consistency of their style and deciding to have some big music fun. Not that darker moments don’t arise at times (musically of course, lyrically things stay amusingly low in the happiness stakes); Faith provides a touching swing to a song about what sounds like a missing dog, but knowing NMN probably equates to some sub-psychological anti-concept. Past the rollicking narrative of Heaven is The Dust Beneath My Shoes and we reach Mondo Nihilissimo, a piece of pure pop heaven with lyrics to have them freaking out in the aisles.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this album is the sheer enthusiasm it displays, and the prospect of seeing them play these songs out live is something I’m already drooling into my Shreddies about.
Opener Wake Up switches straight into delicious hyperspeed weirdness before being dispelled by a classic NMN anthem-rocker In Her Eyes. It’s fun all the rest of the way, pretty much. This is a band kicking back and enjoying the consistency of their style and deciding to have some big music fun. Not that darker moments don’t arise at times (musically of course, lyrically things stay amusingly low in the happiness stakes); Faith provides a touching swing to a song about what sounds like a missing dog, but knowing NMN probably equates to some sub-psychological anti-concept. Past the rollicking narrative of Heaven is The Dust Beneath My Shoes and we reach Mondo Nihilissimo, a piece of pure pop heaven with lyrics to have them freaking out in the aisles.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this album is the sheer enthusiasm it displays, and the prospect of seeing them play these songs out live is something I’m already drooling into my Shreddies about.
HTC
posted 1 April 2007 (13:08:59)
great review - NMN is playing in my hometown, in my favourite bar, and i'm gonna miss it, cause i'm away - damn
