''No Trend'' was an American

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

and

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

group from

Ashton, Maryland Ashton is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The commercial center of Ashton lies at the junction of Route 108 (Ashton Road) and New Hampshire Avenue ( Route 650). The etymology of Ashton is unclear, as so ...

, formed in 1982. They were considered anti-hardcore, with the members, especially guitarist and lyricist Frank Price, vehement about their abhorrence towards the punk youth subculture. The band was known for their confrontational stage performances, which normally involved aggressively baiting their punk audience. They were influenced by

Public Image Ltd. Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...

and Flipper. They released three full-length albums, two released independently and one issued through

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. Tou ...

. A fourth album that was recorded in 1987 but never released was finally issued as ''

More More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka S ...

'' in 2001.

History

No Trend formed in 1982 in

and consisted of Jeff Mentges (vocals), Bob Strasser (bass), Frank Price (guitar), and Michael Salkind (drums). Prior to No Trend, Mentges, Salkind, Strasser and Brad Pumphrey (guitar) were a band called the Aborted; they nearly played out with Government Issue. No Trend formed as a reaction against the growing punk rock movement of the time. Their early period has been described as "dark" and "nihilistic". The group intended to write a single song for one performance only, but the group soon wrote enough material for a release: their debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, the '' Teen Love EP'', a 7" independently issued by the band. In August 1983, Strasser and Salkind left the band. Jack Anderson (bass) and Greg Miller (drums) joined and the quintet released their first full-length

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, titled ''

Too Many Humans ''Too Many Humans.....'' is the debut studio album by the American noise rock band No Trend, released through their own No Trend Records in 1984 on vinyl format. The album is known for its brash, misanthropic lyrics, as evident on tracks such as ...

'', which met moderate success within the American underground music scene. In the spring of 1984 the band rerecorded the Teen Love 7” and released it as a 12” with two additional tracks. After an aborted tour during the summer of 1984, Price, Anderson and Miller all left the group, leaving Mentges as the only member of the group. Mentges would later get other musicians to join the band, and the newly reformed No Trend would go back in studio to record their second record, '' A Dozen Dead Roses'', which was released in 1985. This record featured a significant change in sound when compared to the cold, noisy tone found on previous releases. The record featured vocalist

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

contributing to multiple songs. The songs that featured Lunch were released previously on the 10" extended play ''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...

'' through her label Widowspeak Productions. She also issued a No Trend compilation album in 1986, titled ''When Death Won't Solve Your Problems'', through the same label. The band would later be signed to

and would release their third album, ''

Tritonian Nash-Vegas Polyester Complex ''Tritonian Nash-Vegas Polyester Complex'' is the third studio album by American no wave band No Trend ''No Trend'' was an American noise rock and hardcore punk group from Ashton, Maryland, formed in 1982. They were considered anti-hardcore, ...

'', through them in 1986. A fourth album was recorded in 1987, but after they showed the label the record, Touch and Go refused to release it, deeming that it was "too weird" to release. They were unable to find a label to release the album, effectively putting an end to the band. The album would remain unreleased until Morphious Archives, a label that specializes in releasing obscure records, gained the rights to release the album. It was finally issued in 2001 as ''

''. After the group's official disbandment, Jeff Mentges attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

as a film student, and subsequently directed the John Holmes biographical film ''Of Flesh and Blood'' in 1990. Founding member and original No Trend guitarist Frank Price committed suicide in 1989, which brought shock to both members and fans of the band. A compilation of unreleased studio and live tracks was released through

TeenBeat Records Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest ...

in 1995, titled ''The Early Months''.

Musical style

The band originally started out as a

outfit, with critics comparing their sound to

and

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

. As shown on '' Teen Love'' and, to a greater extent, ''

'', the band's music typically revolved around Bob Strasser's repetitive basslines. Michael Salkind's drums were quick-paced, and Frank Price's guitar riffs were mostly composed of

guitar feedback Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation which may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for examp ...

. Their sound quickly changed with '' A Dozen Dead Roses'', which focused much more on

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

funk music Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, and

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

to a lesser extent.''

'' dug deeper into the musical stylings of '' A Dozen Dead Roses'', and ''

'' included major

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

influences.

Members

*Jeff Mentges - Vocals (1982 - 1988) *Frank Price - Guitar (1982 - 1984) *Bob Strasser - Bass (1982 - 1984) *Stephan "Chazz" Jacobs - Electric Cello and Percussion (1982-1983) * Christine Niblack - Bass (1983 tour) *Michael Salkind - Drums (1982 - 1983) *Jack Anderson - Bass (1983 - 1984) *Greg Miller - Drums (1983 - 1984) *Danny "Spidako" Demetro - Keyboards (1985 - 1986) *Robert "Smokey" Marymont - Bass (1985 - 1988) *Dean Evangelista - Guitar, keyboards (1985 - 1988) *Benard Demassy - Saxophone (1985 - 1986) *Ken Rudd - Drums (1985 - 1986) *James "Fuzz" Peachy - Drums (1986 - 1988) *Nick Smiley - Saxophone (1986 - 1988) *Scott Rafal - Saxophone (1986 - 1988) *Johnny Ontego - Saxophone (1986 - 1988) *Paul Henzy - Trumpet (1986 - 1988) *Leif - Guitar (1986 - 1988) *Bobby Birdsong - Guitar (1986 - 1988) *Rogelio Maxwell - Cello (1986 - 1988) *Chris Pestelozzie - Percussion (1986 - 1988)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:60 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1988 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1982 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1988 Colors = id:guitars value:green legend:Guitar id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboard id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:horns value:gray(0.5) legend:Horns id:saxophone value:skyblue legend:Saxophone id:percussion value:claret legend:Percussion id:cello value:yellowgreen legend:Cello id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_Albums id:lines2 value: gray(0.5) legend: EPs BarData = bar:Jeff text:Jeff Mentges bar:Frank text:Frank Price bar:Dean text:Dean Evangelista bar:Leif text:Leif bar:Bobby text:Bobby Birdsong bar:Benard text:Benard Demassy bar:Nick text:Nick Smiley bar:Scott text:Scott Rafal bar:Johnny text:Johnny Ontego bar:Paul text:Paul Henzy bar:Rogelio text:Rogelio Maxwell bar:Bob text:Bob Strasser bar:Christine text:Christine Niblack bar:Jack text:Jack Anderson bar:Robert text:Robert "Smokey" Marymont bar:Danny text:Danny "Spidako" Demetro bar:Michael text:Michael Salkind bar:Ken text:Ken Rudd bar:James text:James "Fuzz" Peachy bar:Chris text:Chris Pestelozzie PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Jeff from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1988 color:vocals bar:Frank from:01/01/1982 till:07/01/1984 color:guitars bar:Bob from:01/01/1982 till:07/01/1984 color:bass bar:Michael from:01/01/1982 till:09/01/1983 color:drums bar:Danny from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 color:keys bar:Robert from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1988 color:bass bar:Dean from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 color:guitars bar:Dean from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:keys bar:Benard from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 color:saxophone bar:Ken from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 color:drums bar:James from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:drums bar:Nick from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:saxophone bar:Scott from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:saxophone bar:Johnny from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:saxophone bar:Paul from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:horns bar:Leif from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:guitars bar:Bobby from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:guitars bar:Rogelio from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:cello bar:Chris from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:percussion bar:Christine from:03/01/1983 till:09/01/1983 color:bass bar:Jack from:07/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:bass LineData = at:01/01/1983 color:lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1984 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/01/1985 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/01/1986 color:lines1 layer:back

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Too Many Humans.....'' (1984, No Trend Records) *'' A Dozen Dead Roses'' (1985, No Trend Records) *''

'' (1986, Touch and Go) *''

'' (2001, Morphius Archives) ;Compilations *''When Death Won't Solve Your Problems'' (1986, Widowspeak Productions) *'' The Early Months'' (1995, TeenBeat) *''You Deserve Your Life'' (2018, Digital Regress) *''Too Many Humans / Teen Love'' (2020, Drag City) ;EPs *'' Teen Love'' (1983, No Trend) *with

: ''

'' (1985, Widowspeak Productions)

References

External links

* *
Touch and Go band page
{{DEFAULTSORT:No Trend American post-hardcore musical groups Hardcore punk groups from Maryland Punk rock groups from Maryland American noise rock music groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Touch and Go Records artists 1982 establishments in Maryland