The Hanson Brothers

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Hanson Brothers


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Origin = Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Genre = Punk
Years_active = 1984–present
Label = Alternative Tentacles, Wrong Records, Southern Records, Konkurrent, Mint Records, Virgin Records
Associated_acts = NoMeansNo
Showbusiness Giants
URL = [http://www.nomeanswhatever.com www.nomeanswhatever.com]
Current_members = Rob Wright
John Wright
Tom Holliston
Mike Branum
Past_members = Ken Jensen
Ken Kempster
Ernie Hawkins
Andy Kerr
:"This article is about the Canadian punk rock group. For the American pop rock trio, see Hanson. For the Slap Shot characters, see Hanson Brothers."

The Hanson Brothers are a punk rock group led by John and Rob Wright and Tom Holliston, all members of the legendary Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. They took their name from characters in the cult ice-hockey film Slap Shot. Heavily influenced by the music of the Ramones and the sport of ice hockey, the band appears to be a self-conscious attempt to construct a set of simplistic Canadian male personas and accordingly simple music that alludes to the sorts of deeper philosophical issues NoMeansNo is prone to tackling [http://www.nomeanswhatever.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1672&sid=7ec2f6ba6f919d15d9f2867ff13b686b] . The band's music is frequently referred to as "puck rock."

History

Originally started as a humorous side project, the band has since become a time-intensive and popular group, releasing three full-length studio albums, a live album, and several singles, while the members seem to treat it with a seriousness akin to that of NoMeansNo. Accordingly, the Hanson Brothers have toured almost as extensively as NoMeansNo, playing their unique blend of melodic, uptempo, raw puck rock everywhere from Calgary, San Francisco and London to Nova Gorica and Copenhagen.

From 1984-1989, the Wright brothers and original NoMeansNo guitarist Andy Kerr performed sporadically under the Hanson Brothers moniker, constructing their sets of Ramones covers. The band later began to dabble with writing "their own Ramones songs" [http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/H/Hanson_Brothers/2003/04/17/745802.html] . At this time John Wright played drums and the band shared vocal duties. Examples of songs from this era are "Ya Little Creep" and "Bad," two Kerr-era NoMeansNo songs with songwriting credited to the Hanson Brothers (the former appears on the 1991 compilation "Clam Chowder and Ice Vs. Big Macs and Bombers," while the latter appears on "The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy", a collaborative LP with Jello Biafra.) While the band was actively creating under this name for some time, it was treated as a strictly casual and only occasionally-invoked side project.

The Wrights began working with Holliston (and without Kerr) as the Hanson Brothers around 1989. The earliest sessions from this time still featured John Wright on drums; however, Ken Jensen of D.O.A. soon joined and, after releasing a debut 7", the band recorded their debut, "Gross Misconduct," in 1992. The record featured art spoofing the cover to the Ramones' "Road to Ruin". Kerr emigrated to Holland in 1993, leading the Wright brothers to, at least for a time, focus on the Hanson Brothers. (Holliston would join NoMeansNo, replacing Kerr, shortly thereafter.)

Jensen died tragically in a house fire in 1995. Ken Kempster (member of, among many other groups, the Showbusiness Giants) became the group's next drummer, referred to as "Kenny Jr" Hanson. This lineup released the group's second record, "Sudden Death," through a subsidiary of Virgin Records.

Kempster left the group in 2001, and Ernie Hawkins joined for touring behind the group's third record, "My Game". Hawkins appears on the group's 2008 live album "It's a Living". Mike Branum, from The Freak Accident, debuted as the group's drummer for their 2008 tour.

In 2000, four of the band's songs were featured in the "NHL Rock The Rink" game for the Sony PlayStation. Also in 2000, John Wright, in his Johnny Hanson "character," recorded an instructional video regarding homebrewing beer. Originally released in small batches on VHS, the film has been reissued on DVD along with the "It's A Living" CD. Wright has compiled and released two compilations of hockey-themed songs called "Puck Rock Volumes I and II."

Members

Current

* Robbie Hanson (Rob Wright) - bass (1984-present)
* Johnny Hanson (John Wright) - vocals (1984-present), drums (1984-1991)
* Tommy Hanson (Tom Holliston) - guitar, vocals (1989-present)
* Mikey Hanson (Mike Branum) - drums (2008-present)

Former

* Kenny Hanson (Ken Jensen) - drums (1991-1995)
* Kenny Jr Hanson (Ken Kempster) - drums (1995-2001)
* Ernie Hanson (Ernie Hawkins) - drums (2001-2006)
* Andy Kerr - guitar, vocals (1984-1989)

Discography

* "Brad" (7") - 1992
* "Gross Misconduct" (LP) - 1992
* "The Hockey Song" (7") - 1996
* "Sudden Death" (LP) - 1996
* "My Game" (LP) - 2002
* "Brad" (EP) - 2003
* "It's A Living" (LP) - 2008

There are numerous limited edition singles and compilation albums featuring Hanson Brothers tracks too.

External links

* [http://www.nomeanswhatever.com/ Official Hanson Brothers / Nomeansno message board & Tour Info]
* [http://www.smoeff.nl/ Hanson Brothers Tour information]
* [http://www.no-means-no.de/ Hanson Brothers / No Means No fan site]
* [http://www.southern.com/southern/band/HANSO/ Hanson Brothers on Southern Records]
* Hanson Brothers' (Tommy Hanson) Not to be confused with Tommy (William) Hanson /retired Vancouver drummer [http://www.DigbyDoodle.com/Moeller/Vintage.htm]

References