Nomeansno had frequently cited The Residents as one of their favorite bands,[1][2] and recorded a cover version of a song from the Residents' arcane Intermission: Extraneous Music from the Residents' Mole Show five-song EP from 1982. They also recorded two new songs and a reworked version of the song "Big Dick" from their 1989 album Wrong. The sessions were recorded at Sea of Shit Studios in Victoria and were mixed in Greehouse Studios by Nomeansno and Brian Else.
Release
Would We Be Alive? was initially released in 1996 as a two-song 12" single on Alternative Tentacles for the band's European tour. Its title track was on side A and the new song "Rise" on side B. The record's cover featured drummer John Wright holding his newborn son. These tracks were also issued later that year as Chaotic Soup, a Japanese split release with the Alternative Tentacles band Ultra Bidé.
In November 1997, the EP was issued in four-track form on CD and 12" vinyl by Alternative Tentacles.[3] It is out of print and has not been reissued by the band's own label Wrong Records, unlike much of their back catalogue.
The EP received only lukewarm reviews. AllMusic critic Steve Huey awarded the EP two out of five stars and described it as relevant to established fans only.[3] A critic writing for The A.V. Club praised the title track as a "tooth-rattling march into self-destruction," but assessed the other tracks as "fine filler" which "would not stand on their own."[4]
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