No Trigger

Info About the Video

We are proud to bring you the first part of the No Trigger/Set Your Goals Europe Tour Video (found under the band's picture on the left). The video was put together by Ben Thornley and covers 52 shows spanning 16 countries with only one day off. The second portion of the video can be found at PunkNews.org.

“It may be an east coast thing.” –Jon Strader

It’s a simple formula, really. Put five guys together in a basement for four years. Throw in a strong work ethic and a bit of humility. Then top it off with music filled to the brim with relevance, catchiness, and honesty, and what do you get? You’ll get a band that has a chance to break through the radar and actually leave its mark on the world above them. You’ll get No Trigger. And since their quiet beginnings four years ago, this five piece out of central Massachusetts has done just that. They’ve managed to take their music and their message out of their east coast basement and into the ears of fans worldwide.

With the release of their debut EP Extinction In Stereo in 2004, the band has mustered the strong support of fans in both Japan and North America with songs rooted in social, ecological and personal themes. And not surprisingly, these same themes continue on their debut album, Canyoneer. “We just wanted to write an album that cemented our ideas, both musical and thematic, in a relevant way,” says singer Tom Rheault. “I think we succeeded ten-fold.”

The songs on Canyoneer range from infectiously driving to lightning fast, each of them containing an underlying message which slowly resonates to the surface. The song "More To Offer" for instance, "simply deals with the inequalities of gender-specific voices within underground music," Rheault says. “When a majority of bands you see are filled with men, those are the only points of view you get when you read their words and listen to their music. This song deals with that misfortune.” To avoid hypocrisy, the band enlisted the talents of female vocalist Hayley Helmericks, driving the point home. "Hayley had a flat-out terrific voice, and she really helped complete that song and made it stand out in a great way. We were so psyched on how it came out."

"You Said It" is a driving, switch-tempo song, complete with strong gang vocals and a catchy, melodic breakdown where a direct response to the inappropriate use of homophobic derogatory slang is used to confront its source. "That song is great because it’s short, pissed off, and the message is completely clear," says Rheault. "It’s about as straightforward as you can get."

No Trigger is under no delusion where and how they fit in the history of punk and hardcore. Proof that the band knows their place, Canyoneer opens by slowly fading into feedback and then bursts in with an old school, fast as hell, Dag Nasty-esque riff. An appropriate beginning to the song titled "The (Not So) Noble Purveyors of the Third or Fourth Coming," which traces the band's discovery of punk rock at an early age, and highlights their self-conscious attempt at adding to the pantheon of a well-established scene. Rheault explains, "While writing the album and knowing we'd be working with Bill [Stevenson] and Jason [Livermore], it just struck me one day that the first true punk song I ever heard was a song by The Descendents. It was that one song that got me into this type of music in the first place. So "The (Not So) Noble" deals with the crazy full-circle reality that was taking place. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around how cool it all is."
Such an attitude attests to the band's modest approach to their music. But the end result is a band putting their music where their mouths are and, not-so-quietly, the album pushes forward and proves No Trigger are no mere footnote. Twelve solid tracks. A mix of punk and hardcore. No filler. Aggression, energy, and melody all intact. It’s a simple formula, but it seems as if No Trigger have perfected it.

The story of No Trigger begins in Massachusetts in the year 2000 when the impassioned hardcore punk outfit made their first splash with a series of self-released demos and split EPs, leading punk rock media outlets such as Pastepunk and Punknews to name them the best unsigned band of their time. Fast forward to 2006, countless live shows later, and the release of the band’s landmark debut (and to this point, only) full length album, Canyoneer on Nitro Records, an album that, regardless of any future releases, cemented the band’s legacy in punk rock forever. Such is the story of No Trigger, a band destined to release groundbreaking punk rock albums, riling up their fanbase, only to disappear into the abyss and return again years later.

On their sophomore album, Tycoon, released in February 2012 on No Sleep Records, No Trigger compiled what is already being considered by many to be their greatest achievement to date, and an album sure to turn the entire punk rock community on its ear, again.

strike anywhere, set your goals, propagandhi