No Means No (sometimes written without the spaces: NoMeansNo) is a rock music group from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
The band was formed in 1979 by brothers Rob Wright ( bass guitar and vocals) and John Wright ( drum set, keyboards and vocals). Their name derives from an anti- date rape slogan. For their first four years the duo music would seem to be influenced as much by jazz and progressive rock as punk rock. The musical press described their earliest recordings as " Devo on a jazz trip, Motörhead after art school or Wire on psychotic steroids."
Even their earliest recordings demonstrate impressive instrumental technique ("some of the most complex instrumentation you're ever likely to find in good ol' punk rawk" ). Jazz has exerted an influence on the group: Rob's basslines have a loping, melodic quality often reminiscent of Charles Mingus, and John's drumming sometimes sounds a bit like Elvin Jones or Art Blakey.
In 1983, they added Andy Kerr on guitar and vocals. Kerr preferred anonymity and used such pseudonyms as "Buttercup" or "None of your fucking business". He brought a distinct hardcore punk edge to the group, and stayed until the mid nineties. He is often erroneously credited for penning the lyrics of No Means No songs on which he sang, perhaps due to deliberately vague liner notes and frequent vocal moonlighting (Kerr sings lead or co-lead vocals on nearly half the songs on Wrong for example). It is, however, generally understood that Rob Wright is the band's lyricist and main songwriter.