Title: Hanson Brothers – ‘It’s a Living’
Label: Wrong Records/Southern Records
Released: Available Now
Format: CD/DVD & Double Vinyl
I love it when I get pleasant suprises, and this the latest opus from NoMeansNo‘s oddball Bar-comedy-punk side-project The Hanson Brothers, has plenty of them!
The first thing that surprised me was my own lack of any observational skills, and how I should probably eye-ball the press release a bit before slamming CDs into my Mac. This CD has a DVD on the otherside, which really baffled for a second! (I had put the disk in the wrong way!)
First up, the music! THB play a blend of punk rock that harks back to the good-ol days of the Ramones and The Ruts-era Punk, but with the added twist of cleverly placed (and actually funny) odd-ball comedy. The CD is setup to sound like a live radio-session, interspersed with band interviews and rants, which actually works really well. If, like me, you are a fan of NoMeansNo, you will instantly recognise the ‘sound’ of this record…in fact this kind of reminds me of their earlier releases, but with more of a, dare I say, comedy-concept.
The DVD, which I ended up rewinding once I realised my mistake, is, at first glance, a ‘how to brew your own beer’ instructional video with a few live songs thrown in. Closer observation reveals that songs are actually Ramones covers with altered lyrics and titles such as ‘Blitzkrieg Hops’, which ties in nicely with the beer theme presented. The brothers really ham-up their performances, and actually really do give you a pretty decent step-by-step guide to making your own home-brew beer. All in all then, an odd, but welcome addition to this whole package.
Overall, this is a really nice little package, and one that I would actually recomend to anyone looking for a good fun, old fashioned punk record. The DVD is an odd-extra, but a welcome one, and well worth the money at a mere £8.99! Great for old fans and new ones alike, this will be blasting in the SittingNow office for the forseable!
4.5/5
Ken Eakins
You can download a free track from this record on the Southern Records site here
