Elastic No-No Band

Infobox musical artist
Name = Elastic No-No Band


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = New York City, USA
Genre = Antifolk, alternative rock, indie rock
Years_active = 2004–present
Label = Weemayk Music
Associated_acts = Herb Scher & the Key Lime Pie Revue [http://myspace.com/herbscher]
The Sewing Circle [http://myspace.com/thesewingcircle]
The Lying Dorito Brothers [http://myspace.com/lydobros]
URL = [http://www.elasticnonoband.com elasticnonoband.com]
Current_members = Justin Remer
Herb Scher
Preston Spurlock
Doug Johnson
Past_members = Clint Scheibner

Elastic No-No Band is an Anti-folk group based in New York City. Started in the mid-2000s, the band's name was initially just a pseudonym for its current leader and main songwriter, Justin Remer. Since 2005, Elastic No-No Band has also included pianist Herb Scher and multi-instrumentalist Preston Spurlock. In 2005 and 2006, the band would perform sporadically with Clint Scheibner, who would play a bass drum attached to his chest, as though he were in a marching band. Since 2007, the band has included drummer Doug Johnson, who plays a standard drum kit.

Remer did a solo US tour as Elastic No-No Band during spring of 2008 [cite web |url=http://classicalgeektheatre.blogspot.com/2008/04/manhattan-murder-mystery-health-club.html|title=Classical Geek Theatre concert review |accessdate=2008-06-01 |format= |work= ] [cite web |url=http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/234480.php|title=Tough Call-Tuesday Night in Arizona Daily Star|accessdate=2008-06-01 |format= |work= ] .

Film Music

Remer initially used the name Elastic No-No Band as a personal pseudonym when he wrote and performed songs and film scores for some of his short films. These films include "In Defense of Lemmings" (2004) and "Loved and/or Laid" (2006). [cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1857515/|title=Elastic No-No Band's credits on the Internet Movie Database |accessdate=2007-06-11 |format= |work= ] Remer also contributed songs to the Troma films "Tales from the Crapper" (2004) [cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338479/fullcredits |title="Tales From The Crapper" credits on the Internet Movie Database |accessdate=2007-06-11 |format= |work= ] and "" (2007) [cite web |url=http://www.poultrygeistmovie.com/music/bands/|title="Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead" soundtrack band listing |accessdate=2007-06-11 |format= |work= ] as Elastic No-No Band.

CD-R Albums

While he was studying film at New York University, Remer used the facilities intended for recording voice-over for film projects to create four lo-fi solo albums. These albums were "Songs from a Poorly-Soundproofed Room" (2004) (the title is a parody of Leonard Cohen's "Songs from a Room"), "More Songs About Cowboys and Moisture" (2004) (the title is a parody of Talking Heads' "More Songs About Buildings and Food"), an album of Elvis Costello covers called "Every Elvis Has His Army: ENB Does EC" (2005), and "(Previously Otherwise) Uncollected Songs" (2005). These albums were initially distributed using the CD-R format, but now most of the songs from these albums are available as a free music download from Elastic No-No Band's website.

Elastic No-No Band as trio and quartet

Remer began performing at the Anti-hootenanny open mic run by Lach at the Sidewalk Cafe (considered the "world capital" of the East Village Anti-folk scene [cite web |url=http://www.antifolk.net/NYNJ.html |title=Antifolk Around The World: Manhattan, NY and Hoboken, NJ |accessdate=2007-06-11 |format= |work= ] ) in 2005. This is where he met Scher, Spurlock, and Scheibner. The men performed shows together and made home recordings of some of their rehearsals.

Five of these rehearsal recordings, featuring the trio of Remer, Scher, and Spurlock are featured on Elastic No-No Band's first official CD release, "The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far" (2006). Scheibner is credited on the release with "silent drumming." [cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/release/981551/|title="The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far" on Discogs.com |accessdate=2007-06-11 |format= |work= ] The remainder of the CD consists of songs from the four CD-R albums Remer recorded alone and a newer solo recording titled "Run-DMC."

In 2007, the band issued "No-No's (Leftovers and Live Songs)", which consists of previously unreleased material, live performances, and previously issued one-off recordings from compilations. According to Remer, the songs are called "leftovers" instead of "B-sides" or "rarities" because they're no rarer than any of the band's other songs. [cite web |url=http://www.elasticnonoband.com/products.html/|title=Elastic No-No Band website discography page|accessdate=2007-06-11 |format= |work= ] This CD introduces the quartet line-up of Elastic No-No Band, by including live performances with newer drummer Doug Johnson.

"My 3 Addictions"

The quartet line-up has recently finished Elastic No-No Band's first studio album, titled "My 3 Addictions". It was produced by Major Matt Mason USA. [cite web |url=http://www.elasticnonoband.com/products.html/|title=Elastic No-No Band website discography page|accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work= ] It was released on October 16, 2007. [cite web |url=http://www.amazon.com/My-Addictions-Elastic-No-No-Band/dp/B000VIU43E/|title=Amazon.com product page|accessdate=2007-09-01 |format= |work= ]

Justin Remer has also set up a blog in advance of the album's release called "My 3 Addictions": An interactive album" [http://my3addictions.blogspot.com] . Starting September 3, 2007, Remer posts a new entry every other day, including an audio stream of one of the album's songs. Since September 23, 2007, all eleven songs have been available for listening from the blog.

Pop culture references

Many of Elastic No-No Band's songs feature humorous lyrics based on pop culture references.

"Run-DMC" mentions the titular hip-hop group, as well as fellow hip-hoppers Eric B. & Rakim, R&B singer Bobby "Blue" Bland, and actor Mr. T.

"I Am Klaus Kinski (And This Is My Song)" is told from the point of view of the famed German actor and mentions his squabbles with his frequent collaborator, the German film director Werner Herzog.

"A Modest Proposal (For Laura Cantrell)" has Remer proposing marriage to the country music singer Laura Cantrell and mentioning past romantic crushes on female musicians like Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield, and Meg White.

"Woody Allen Surrogate (Kenneth Branagh's Blues)" is from the point of view of British actor and director Kenneth Branagh, who starred in Woody Allen's film Celebrity. The song discusses actors who have played the "Woody Allen part" in movies that Allen has directed but not starred in, such as John Cusack (in "Bullets Over Broadway") and Jason Biggs (in "Anything Else"). Sean Penn is noted in the song for "avoiding it" in his performance in "Sweet and Lowdown".

Discography

Albums

*"Songs from a Poorly-Soundproofed Room" (2004) (CD-R)
*"More Songs About Cowboys and Moisture" (2004) (CD-R)
*"Every Elvis Has His Army: ENB Does EC" (2005) (CD-R)
*"(Previously Otherwise) Uncollected Songs" (2005) (CD-R)
*"The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far" (2006)
*"No-No's (Leftovers and Live Songs)" (2007)
*"My 3 Addictions" (2007)

EP

*"The Meow Bits" (2008)

Compilation Appearances

*"" soundtrack (2006) - "Lone Gay Man's Last Words"
*"Anticomp Folkilation" (2007) - "Sally's Strut"

References

External links

* [http://www.elasticnonoband.com Elastic No-No Band website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/elasticnonoband Elastic No-No Band Myspace page]
* [http://my3addictions.blogspot.com My 3 Addictions: An interactive album blog]
* [http://antifolk.net/artists/elasticnonoband Elastic No-No Band on Antifolk.net]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:k9fyxqqrldje~T0 Elastic No-No Band on allmusic.com]