Elastic No-No Band
Encyclopedia
Elastic No-No Band is a musical group based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's anti-folk
Anti-folk
Anti-folk is a music genre that takes the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music and subverts it. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next...

 scene. Started in the mid-2000s, the band's name was initially just a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 for its current leader and main songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, 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
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...

 attached to his chest, as though he were in a marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

. Since 2007, the band has included drummer Doug Johnson, who plays a standard drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

. During the recording sessions for the band's 2010 album, Fustercluck!!!
Fustercluck!!!
Fustercluck!!! is the sixth official release from antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band, their second studio album, and their first double album...

, electric guitarist John Mulcahy was added.

Remer did a solo US tour as Elastic No-No Band during spring of 2008.

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). Remer also contributed songs to the Troma films Tales from the Crapper
Tales from the Crapper
Tales from the Crapper is a 2004 straight-to-video anthology film that was a spoof of the Tales from the Crypt comics. The film was released by Troma Entertainment.-Plot:...

(2004) and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2007) as Elastic No-No Band.

Lo-fi/home recordings

While he was studying film at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, Remer used the facilities intended for recording voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...

 for film projects to create four lo-fi
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...

 solo
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...

 albums. These albums were Songs from a Poorly-Soundproofed Room (2004) (the title is a parody of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

's Songs from a Room
Songs from a Room
Songs from a Room is the second album of Canadian musician Leonard Cohen, released in 1969. It reached #63 on the Billboard list and #2 at UK charts....

), More Songs About Cowboys and Moisture (2004) (the title is a parody of Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...

' More Songs About Buildings and Food
More Songs about Buildings and Food
More Songs About Buildings and Food is Talking Heads' second album, the first of a string of three co-produced by Brian Eno. The album was significantly more popular than their first, Talking Heads: 77...

), an album of Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

 covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 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
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....

 format, but now most of the songs from these albums are available as a free music download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 from Elastic No-No Band's website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

.

Remer began performing at the Anti-hootenanny open mic run by Lach
Lach
Lach is a musician associated with the anti-folk movement. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was trained as a classical pianist from an early age only to abandon it once he heard The Sex Pistols, The Jam and The Clash for the first time. Realizing he was a songwriter, Lach backtracked and explored...

 at the Sidewalk Cafe (the center of New York's East Village anti-folk scene). This is where he met Scher, Spurlock, and Scheibner. The men performed shows together and made home recording
Home recording
Home recording is the practice of recording in a private home, rather than in a professional recording studio. A studio set up for home recording is called a "project studio" or "home studio". Home recording is practiced by indie bands, singer-songwriters, hobbyists, podcasters, documentarians,...

s 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
The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far
The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far is the first official CD release of the antifolk group Elastic No-No Band.It is a compilation of home-recorded tracks taken from the four lo-fi CD-R albums that Justin Remer recorded using the name Elastic No-No Band, augmented by five songs performed by...

(2006). Scheibner is credited on the release with "silent drumming." 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)
No-No's (Leftovers and Live Songs)
No-No's is the second official CD release by the antifolk group Elastic No-No Band. It is a compilation of songs that were never intended for a specific album and includes many live performances....

, 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. 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 created Elastic No-No Band's first studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

, titled My 3 Addictions
My 3 Addictions
My 3 Addictions is the third official CD release from antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band and their first studio album.It is a concept album inspired partially by the 2-part structure of Willie Nelson's Phases and Stages album...

. It was produced by Major Matt Mason USA
Major Matt Mason USA
Major Matt Mason USA is the performing name of Matt Roth, a New York City-based musician and record producer, is active in the Anti-folk and DIY music scene of New York's East Village....

. It was released on October 16, 2007.

Justin Remer set up a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

 in advance of the album's release called "My 3 Addictions: An interactive album". Starting September 3, 2007, Remer posted 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.

Justin Remer, friend of director Yanni Osmond (a Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 surrealist artist who'd attempted to use Remer's music on a short film), licensed use of some of the No-No Band's music on a Dadaist cartoon called Living Evil, currently being produced.

Fustercluck!!!

Elastic No-No Band released their second studio album, a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 called Fustercluck!!!
Fustercluck!!!
Fustercluck!!! is the sixth official release from antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band, their second studio album, and their first double album...

in January 2010. It features numerous guest appearances from other antifolk acts, like Toby Goodshank
Toby Goodshank
Toby Goodshank is a musician and visual artist based out of New York City. In addition to his solo work, he performs regularly with New York City-based bands Double Deuce, the Tri-Lambs, and the Christian Pirate Puppets.-Biography:...

 of The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches was an indie group founded by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band has been on hiatus since 2004...

, Nan Turner of Schwervon!
Schwervon!
Schwervon! is a two-piece American rock music band based in New York City. The band members are Major Matt Mason USA on electric guitar and Nan Turner on drums; the pair share singing duties. They started the band in 1999, shortly after they began their ongoing romantic relationship. They have...

, and Brook Pridemore
Brook Pridemore
Brook Pridemore is an American singer-songwriter affiliated with the Antifolk scene in New York City. He has released five albums on the Bronx-based record label Crafty Records, and co-produced a compilation of antifolk acts for that label called Anticomp Folkilation...

. The album also marks the addition of electric guitarist John Mulcahy to the band.

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
Eric B. & Rakim
Eric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier and MC Rakim .Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre...

, R&B singer Bobby "Blue" Bland, and actor Mr. T
Mr. T
Mr. T is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III, and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry,...

.

"I Am Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...

 (And This Is My Song)" is told from the point of view of the famed German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and mentions his squabbles with his frequent collaborator, the German film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...

.

"A Modest Proposal (For Laura Cantrell)" has Remer proposing marriage to the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Laura Cantrell
Laura Cantrell
Laura Cantrell is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. She used to present a weekly country and old-time music radio show on WFMU in New Jersey called The Radio Thrift Shop...

 and mentioning past romantic crushes on female musicians like Liz Phair
Liz Phair
Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...

, Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

, and Meg White
Meg White
Megan Martha "Meg" White is an American drummer best known for her work in the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes.-Early life:...

.

"Woody Allen Surrogate (Kenneth Branagh's Blues)" is from the point of view of British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 actor and director Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...

, who starred in Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...

's film Celebrity
Celebrity (film)
Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:...

. 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
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...

 (in Bullets Over Broadway
Bullets Over Broadway
Bullets Over Broadway is a 1994 crime-comedy film written by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath and directed by Woody Allen. It stars an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri, and Jennifer Tilly....

) and Jason Biggs
Jason Biggs
Jason Matthew Biggs is an American actor who is best known for his role as Jim Levenstein in the American Pie series of teen comedy films.-Personal life:...

 (in Anything Else
Anything Else
Anything Else is a 2003 romantic comedy film. The film was written and directed by Woody Allen, produced by his sister Letty Aronson, and stars Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci, Woody Allen, Stockard Channing, Danny DeVito, Jimmy Fallon and KaDee Strickland....

). Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

 is noted in the song for "avoiding it" in his performance in Sweet and Lowdown
Sweet and Lowdown
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen which tells the story of a fictional arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt...

.

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
    The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far
    The Very Best of Elastic No-No Band So Far is the first official CD release of the antifolk group Elastic No-No Band.It is a compilation of home-recorded tracks taken from the four lo-fi CD-R albums that Justin Remer recorded using the name Elastic No-No Band, augmented by five songs performed by...

    (2006)
  • No-No's (Leftovers and Live Songs)
    No-No's (Leftovers and Live Songs)
    No-No's is the second official CD release by the antifolk group Elastic No-No Band. It is a compilation of songs that were never intended for a specific album and includes many live performances....

    (2007)
  • My 3 Addictions
    My 3 Addictions
    My 3 Addictions is the third official CD release from antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band and their first studio album.It is a concept album inspired partially by the 2-part structure of Willie Nelson's Phases and Stages album...

    (2007)
  • Fustercluck!!!
    Fustercluck!!!
    Fustercluck!!! is the sixth official release from antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band, their second studio album, and their first double album...

    (2010)
  • Charmingly Shambolic and Mostly Live (2011)

EPs & Single

  • The Meow Bits
    The Meow Bits
    The Meow Bits is the fourth official release from antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band and their first EP. It is issued only as a digital download....

    (2008)
  • Every Elvis Has His Impersonators: 7 Homemade Remade Elvis Costello Songs
    Every Elvis Has His Impersonators: 7 Homemade Remade Elvis Costello Songs
    Every Elvis Has His Impersonators: 7 Homemade Remade Elvis Costello Songs is the fifth official release credited to antifolk music group Elastic No-No Band and their second EP, although all of the music is played and sung by the group's leader, Justin Remer. It is the first Elastic No-No Band...

    (2008)
  • "Paradise by the Dashboard Light
    Paradise by the Dashboard Light
    "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was first released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley...

    " (2011; 4-way split
    Split album
    A split album is a music album which includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There have been singles and EPs released in the same nature, which can be referred to as split singles and split EPs respectively...

     7-inch single/Meat Loaf
    Meat Loaf
    Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

     cover
    Cover version
    In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

     with Huggabroomstik, Schwervon!
    Schwervon!
    Schwervon! is a two-piece American rock music band based in New York City. The band members are Major Matt Mason USA on electric guitar and Nan Turner on drums; the pair share singing duties. They started the band in 1999, shortly after they began their ongoing romantic relationship. They have...

    , and The Leader)

Compilation Appearances

  • Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead soundtrack album
    Poultrygeist (soundtrack)
    -Other songs featured in the film:The following is a list of songs featured in Poultrygeist but not included on the soundtrack album:*Zombina and the Skeletones - "Staci Stasis"*Mike Black - "Go/No-Go"*The Faint - "Dropkick the Punks"...

     (2006) - "Lone Gay Man's Last Words"
  • Anticomp Folkilation
    Anticomp Folkilation
    Anticomp Folkilation is a 2-CD compilation album featuring a variety of artists from New York's antifolk scene.-CD 1:# Major Matt Mason USA-Tripping Yourself# Brook Pridemore-Sugar Coma # Soft Black-The Earth is Black...

    (2007) - "Sally's Strut"

External links

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