Biography of The Hanson Brothers

When Rob and John Wright weren't busy fronting the eclectic and bizarre punk group NoMeansNo -- which stormed out of Victoria, British Columbia, in the early '80s -- they were busy playing with a few friends in the less challenging side project, the Hanson Brothers. The Hanson Brothers, named after the pugilistic hockey siblings in the Paul Newman film Slapshot, forewent the complex rhythms and funk/jazz tendencies of its mother group to revel in dumb-punk tribute to the Ramones. While the group falls far short of sounding like the Ramones, they do shout out song countdowns like their heroes and offer such parody offerings as "Blitzkrieg Hops" (sample lyric: "Hey! You! Let's Brew!). The group's debut LP, 1992's Gross Misconduct, made no bones about being in the spirit of dumb fun and little else. (Especially with lyrics that rhyme, for example, "Zamboni" and "spumoni.") A sophomore effort, Sudden Death, followed in 1996. Like its predeccessor, it abounded with silliness and hockey themes. ~ Erik Hage