I’m very excited for this next chapter of the Record (Re)Collection. David “Space Beaver” Guillas, guitarist for Propagandhi, talks about Nomeansno’s 0+2=1 a. Propagandhi’s new record Supporting Caste hits the stores on March 10th. Any self-respecting punk rocker already has the date marked down, I’m sure. Enjoy the read.

I was born in 1979, which means I was a rambunctious pre-pube teenager when all those melodic “punk” bands exploded out of California in the early-to-mid ’90s. To my puny, undeveloped brain these bands were the shit–I could not get enough. But as a year or two passed I started to feel like that scene was getting stale. I yearned for music from bands that progressed–that didn’t stagnate in order to accommodate a temporary craze fueled by dollar bills. Just when it seemed that punk music had nothing left to offer, a friend introduced me to Nomeansno–more specifically to their album from 1991 0+2=1. The fire was rekindled.

Read more after the jump.

The immediate appeal of 0+2=1 was the uniqueness and weirdness of the songs. In my brief encounter with the Californian version of “punk,” I had never heard anything like what I was now hearing in songs like “0+2=1,” “Every Day I Start To Ooze” or “Joyful Reunion.” Each song was its own entity with diverse influences mixed with Nomeansno’s unique take on punk music. This was clearly a band that payed no heed to the flavor of the moment. Their approach to music was honest to the core and that fuckin’ stoked me.

Today, Nomeansno are pretty much the only punk band I listen to regularly. No matter how many times I listen to 0+2=1 or any of their other albums, I still get something out of it. They are a huge inspiration to me as a guitar player and as a guy who likes music. Nomeansno will be playing in my hometown of Winnipeg in April and I cannot wait for those fifty-year-olds to rip my face off.