3 out of 5

Label: Alternative Tentacles

Produced by: Greg Reely

Nomeansno’s 1985 EP, and their first recorded as an expanded trio with guitarist Andy Kerr, is a fascinating mess. It’s not really a mess at all – such is NMN’s not-so-secret skill, able to carve intricate details into what comes across as a lot of bravado and noise – but as the initial swipe at bringing a third instrument into the mix, you can sense a bit of the struggle in finding room for Kerr; eventual industrial producer Greg Reely understandably leans into this a bit by creating a somewhat flat surface for the sounds to bounce off of, but with every track at a fevered BPM and high volume, it can be a bit much without producing a standout single.

The performances are killer. Skill has never been in question with NMN, as the vocal performances swing between 80s punk shouts and call-and-response and some rockabilly-esque croons, lyrical content trawling through intelligent takes on the body and sex obsessions of early NMN stuff – the lyrics are actually a bit stronger here versus followup album Sex Mad, thanks to being somewhat more oblique – and the Wrights pound away on bass and drum interplay, rarely stopping for a breath or missing a beat when the direction of a song suddenly swerves. Kerr’s contributions are a bit more “bass-like” in a traditional sense here, setting rhythm via a distorted edge, and doing some standard solos, but it’s a good way to beef up the group’s barrage, and the just-mentioned Sex Mad would show how quickly they would adapt to better use of this tool in the toolbox.

Hendrix cover Manic Depression fits miraculously well, though it gets transformed into the same fast-and-quick hit of low-end as the rest; if you don’t know the song before this EP, you’d swear it was a NMN original. Final track Paradise is the standout, bringing in more space to breathe and making its pounding conclusion, by contrast, hit incredibly hard.