Hockey Punk'n'Roll
From 1984-1989, the Wright brothers and original NoMeansNo guitarist Andy Kerr performed sporadically under the Hanson Brothers moniker, constructing their sets of Ramones covers. The band later began to dabble with writing "their own Ramones songs". At this time John Wright played drums and the band shared vocal duties. Examples of songs from this era are "Ya Little Creep" and "Bad," two Kerr-era NoMeansNo songs with songwriting credited to the Hanson Brothers (the former appears on the 1991 compilation Clam Chowder and Ice Vs. Big Macs and Bombers, while the latter appears on The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy, a collaborative LP with Jello Biafra.) While the band was actively creating under this name for some time, it was treated as a strictly casual and only occasionally-invoked side project.
The Wrights began working with Holliston (and without Kerr) as the Hanson Brothers around 1989. The earliest sessions from this time still featured John Wright on drums; however, Ken Jensen of D.O.A. soon joined and, after releasing a debut 7", the band recorded their debut, Gross Misconduct, in 1992. The record featured art spoofing the cover to the Ramones' Road to Ruin. Kerr emigrated to Holland in 1993, leading the Wright brothers to, at least for a time, focus on the Hanson Brothers. (Holliston would join NoMeansNo, replacing Kerr, shortly thereafter.)
Jensen died tragically in a house fire in 1995. Ken Kempster (member of, among many other groups, the Showbusiness Giants) became the group's next drummer, referred to as "Kenny Jr" Hanson. This lineup released the group's second record, Sudden Death, through a subsidiary of Virgin Records.
Kempster left the group in 2001, and Ernie Hawkins joined for touring behind the group's third record, My Game. Hawkins appears on the group's 2008 live album It's a Living. Mike Branum, from The Freak Accident, debuted as the group's drummer for their 2008 tour.
In 2000, four of the band's songs were featured in the NHL Rock The Rink game for the Sony PlayStation. Also in 2000, John Wright, in his Johnny Hanson "character," recorded an instructional video regarding homebrewing beer. Originally released in small batches on VHS, the film has been reissued on DVD along with the It's A Living CD. Wright has compiled and released two compilations of hockey-themed songs called Puck Rock Volumes I and II.
Robbie Hanson (Rob Wright) - bass (1984-present)
Johnny Hanson (John Wright) - vocals (1984-present), drums (1984-1991)
Tommy Hanson (Tom Holliston) - guitar, vocals (1989-present)
Mikey Hanson (Mike Branum) - drums (2008-present)
