''Sex Mad'' is the second full-length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by 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 ...

band

NoMeansNo Nomeansno (sometimes stylized as NoMeansNo or spelled No Means No) was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia, and later relocated to Vancouver. They released 11 albums, including a The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy, ...

. Released in 1986, it is the first Nomeansno LP to feature long-time guitarist Andy Kerr in addition to founding members

Rob Wright Rob Wright (sometimes known as Mr. Wrong; born 12 March 1954) is a Canadian musician and songwriter best known as the bassist, lead vocalist and occasional guitarist of the progressive punk rock band Nomeansno, as well as the bassist of the p ...

and John Wright and the first Nomeansno album issued through

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

. The album has been likened to "a psychiatrist's notebook detailing the growing hostility lying just below the shiny surface of mid-'80s North American society."Barclay, Michael; Jack, Ian A. D.; Schneider, Jason (2011) ''Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985*1995'', ECW Press,

Background and recording

Andy Kerr joined brothers Rob and John Wright in Nomeansno in 1983 after the demise of his and John Wright's previous band, The Infamous Scientists. Kerr's buzz-saw guitar tone and energetic stage presence brought a new dimension to the band. The three-piece lineup debuted in 1985 with the ''

You Kill Me ''You Kill Me'' is 2007 crime comedy film directed by John Dahl, and starring Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson and Dennis Farina. Plot Frank Falenczyk is a hit man for his Polish mob family in Buffalo, New York. He has a drinking pro ...

'' EP on Undergrowth Records. Later in 1985, the band recorded the tracks that would comprise ''Sex Mad'' at Keye Studios. Craig Bougie, their future live sound engineer for nearly two decades, worked with the band in the studio for the first time. 12 of the songs recorded in the session would wind up on final versions of the record. " Dad" was released as a single with "Revenge" on Side B, and received airplay on college radio. The track "Dead Bob" contains a citation of

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

's hit "

Sunshine of Your Love "Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock and psychedelia, it is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive bass riff h ...

Release

The LP was initially issued on

Psyche Industry Records Psyche Industry Records was the leading alternative, punk and hardcore independent record label in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the beginning of the 1980s. The music label was established in 1984 on Cartier Street by show promoter Dan Webster and ...

based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Kerr provided the cover art. The band toured extensively in support of it, and caught the attention of

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

of the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

and the

record label in 1986. Alternative Tentacles ultimately issued ''Sex Mad'' in the United States and Europe, the former of which featured a reworked track listing. Nomeansno ultimately signed with the label and remained there until 2002, issuing nine studio albums, one collaborative LP, one live album, and numerous singles and EPs through the label. In 1992, Alternative Tentacles issued the '' Sex Mad/You Kill Me'' compilation CD and cassette, packaging ''Sex Mad'' with the preceding ''You Kill Me'' EP. Nomeansno left Alternative Tentacles in 2002, and began reissuing their back catalogue through their own Wrong Records imprint, with distribution through

Southern Records Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records is an independent record label (Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is clos ...

. Neither ''Sex Mad'' nor ''You Kill Me'', however, has yet been reissued.

Reception

Canadian music journalists Barclay, Jack, and Schnieder wrote that ''Sex Mad'' "roared out of the speakers like few reviousCanadian albums had before" and called the record Nomeansno's "finest work to date".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Adam Bregman praised ''Sex Mad'' as one of Nomeansno's most "hard rocking" albums and ranked it among their most accessible work, despite several long and ponderous songs on the album's second side.

Track listing

Canada and UK LP release: Side Bob # "Sex Mad" – 4:15 # "Dad" – 3:01 # "Obsessed" – 3:36 # "No Fgcnuik" (full band version) – 0:31 # "Hunt the She Beast" – 5:33 # "Dead Bob" – 6:02 Side Slayde # "Long Days" – 4:58 # "Metronome" – 6:19 # "Revenge" – 5:21 # "Self Pity" – 7:31 U.S. LP release: Side A ("This Side") # "Sex Mad" – 4:15 # "Dad" – 3:01 # "Obsessed" – 3:36 # "No Fgcnuik" (

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

version) – 0:31 # "Love Thang" – 4:12 # "Dead Bob" – 6:02 Side B ("Bat Side") # "Self Pity" – 7:31 # "Long Days" – 4:58 # "Metronome" – 6:19 # "Revenge" – 5:21 *See also '' Sex Mad/You Kill Me'' compilation for CD and cassette reissue information

Credits

Nomeansno * Andy Kerr (credited as "No one particular") – guitar, vocals, bass *

– bass, vocals, guitar * John Wright – drums, keyboards, vocals Production and artwork *Andy Kerr – artwork *Craig Bougie and John Wright – engineering, mixing *Nomeansno – production

References

{{Authority control 1986 albums Nomeansno albums Alternative Tentacles albums