Before the indie buzz around Vancouver's role as the hot spot for the dirty fuzz of bands like Black Mountain, Blood Meridian, and Ladyhawk started, music fans who crept below the mainstream radar knew that no-fun city was also no-wave central. (No wave is a genre of experimental art and music that rejected the commercialism of New Wave music.)

But now, the pulsing keys, frenetic rhythms and abrasive guitars that characterize the no-wave genre, first heard around NYC in the early '80s, made Vancouver home. And Vancouver became (and remains) a centre for bands churning out the characteristic yet diverse sound. Radio Berlin, Hot Loins, Channels 3+4 and Hot Hot Heat were/are all among the torchbearers of VanCity's noise-laden scene.

If you only know Hot Hot Heat from radio singles, you might be surprised to see them lumped in with a sound that's so un-pop, but before the radio hooks and chiming guitars of "You Owe Me An IOU," the Victorians (an Aussie band that played here so much, we'll call them our own) were all synth stabs, grinding bass and yelping vocals. And, before being scooped up by the SubPop label (and then Warner) the band put out a series of 7-inch singles and a split 12-inch that they shared with a band called The Red Light Sting.

The Red Light Sting was my absolute favourite local act. For the five or so years they played shows around town, I saw them countless times, and they're the perfect example of everything I love about Vancouver's no-wavers. Guitarist Andy Dixon once described their sound as "Motorhead meets Devo," but I'd say they're closer to At the Drive In meets Suicide -- that is, if it weren't a touch superfluous to describe relative obscurity with more obscurity. The time signatures seamlessly skipped from one to the other, the guitar riffs were discordant and angular, the rhythm section was relentless and the keys sounded like they were lifted right out of an 8-bit video game. In contrast to the "true spirit" of the genre, they also weren't afraid to showcase their ear for melody, although those melodies were shouted out via the overlapping boy-girl vocals of Gregory Adams and Zoe Verkuylen. They truly were the encapsulation of the idea that rock 'n' roll is glorious noise.

The Red Light Sting called it quits on August 29, 2004, with a farewell show at the Mesa Luna bar in Vancouver. True to form, the night wasn't some overly long send off, beginning with the announcement of "for the last time ever...we're the Red Light Sting" and ending a scant 30 minutes later with the same mantra. While they're barely a footnote in musical history to most, fans came from all around North America to cram into the now defunct local venue to bid them adieu. They leave behind the aforementioned split LP that causes new Hot Hot Heat fans scratching their heads, a pair of EPs and a lone full-length, all of which remain some of my favourite recordings to come out of our fair Terminal City.

Listen to these:

• "Cork Up The Stink" (from the split 12" with Hot Hot Heat)
• "Congratulations Mr. Crocodile, You're Pregnant" from Rub 'Em Down, Rub 'Em Out
• "When In Rome, Collect The Bone" from Our Love Is Soaking In It
• "That's Not My Girlfriend, Those Are Girls Shaving" from Hands Up Tiger
• "That's Not My Girlfriend, Those Are Girls Shaving" (Secret Mommy Remix)

Quinn Omori is a regular Tyee Music Pix contributor and writes the Vancouver music blog From Blown Speakers.