Pointed Sticks (sometimes credited as the Pointed Sticks) are a Canadian

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

/ new wave band from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

consisting of vocalist Nick Jones, guitarist Bill Napier-Hemy, bassist Tony Bardach, drummer Ian Tiles, and keyboardist Gord Nicholl. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, the band reunited in 2006 and have since been sporadically active. As of 2025, they have released four studio albums and three compilations.

History

Pointed Sticks was formed in

, British Columbia, Canada, in 1978, by vocalist Nick Jones, guitarist Bill Napier-Hemy, bassist Tony Bardach, and drummer Ian Tiles; keyboard player Gord Nicholl joined soon after. They later added Johnny Ferreira on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

, Scott Watson took Bardach's place, and Tiles was replaced by Robert Bruce and later by Ken Montgomery. The band released three singles and were subsequently signed to

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

, the first Canadian band on the British label's roster. They travelled to London and recorded an album with Nigel Gray, but the label chose not to release it, and the band returned to Canada. Once there, they re-recorded their material with

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician. In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...

and issued their debut studio album, ''Perfect Youth'', in 1980. They broke up a year later. The first compilation of their recordings, ''Part of the Noise'', was released in 1995 on Zulu Records. ''Perfect Youth'' was reissued by Sudden Death Records in 2005 with four bonus tracks, and a year later, another compilation, consisting of singles, outtakes, and other rarities, entitled ''Waiting for the Real Thing'', came out. The original members of Pointed Sticks reunited in 2006 for a tour of Japan and continued to play sporadic concerts in Canada and the United States. A compilation titled ''Stiff Sessions'' was issued in Japan in 2008. In 2009, the band recorded an album of all new material, ''Three Lefts Make a Right'', which was released in November by Northern Electric Records. Pointed Sticks were featured in the 2010 documentary film ''Bloodied but Unbowed'', about the Vancouver punk rock scene, directed by Susanne Tabata."Vancouver punk rock doc... now with Jello"
''Vancouver Courier'', Michael Kissinger, January 18, 2012 A third, self-titled full-length album came out on Northern Electric via Sudden Death Records in 2015. In 2022, the band released ''Beautiful Future''.

Name

The band gets its name from a

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

sketch, "Self-Defence Against Fresh Fruit", wherein

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...

repeatedly suggests that learning to defend against something like a ''pointed stick'' might be more useful than defending against fresh fruit.

Band members

Current * Nick Jones * Bill Napier-Hemy * Gord Nicholl * Tony Bardach * Ian Tiles Past * Robert Bruce * Ken Montgomery * Johnny Ferreira * Scott Watson

Discography

Studio albums * ''Perfect Youth'' (1980) * ''Three Lefts Make a Right'' (2009) * ''Pointed Sticks'' (2015) * ''Beautiful Future'' (2022) Compilations * ''Part of the Noise'' (1995) * ''Waiting for the Real Thing'' (2006) * ''Stiff Sessions'' Japan only (2008)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointed Sticks Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian punk rock groups Canadian new wave musical groups 1978 establishments in British Columbia 1981 disestablishments in British Columbia 2006 establishments in British Columbia Canadian garage rock groups