Vancouver/ Victoria based puck rockers The Hanson  Brothers are pretty much a quintessentially Canadian band- they  love beer, hockey and loud music.
They are pumped about returning “to the scene of the crime”—  the Coaldale Hotel, where they recorded their live album “ It’s a Living” a few years ago and to promote Hanson’s brand new craft beer Punk Rauch ale, April19 at Sidelines in Coaldale.

“We normally wouldn’t tour because we don’t have a new  album out but we wanted to promote  my new beer and NomeansNo is on hiatus, so  we didn’t have anything else to do,” said Hanson Brothers frontman John Wright, who also plays drums for prog-punkers NoMeansNo.
The Hanson Brothers  formed back in 1984  to do something a little different than the more complex progressive punk rock of NoMeansNo by combining the band members  love of hockey, beer and back to the basics Ramones style punk rock.

 Unfortunately the bar wont be able to serve Puck Rauch Ale as distribution got held up “due to a cock up in Quebec.”

“ I’ll be bringing some with me,”   said Wright, eager to talk about micro-brewing and the state of hockey in Canada, particularly  Alberta.
“ It is so hard to get alcohol over provincial borders, you might as well be dealing with Russia,“ he observed.
He is collaborating with Quebec microbrewery Trou du Diable brewery to create his  specialty brew.

 “ The owners were little puck rock kids who got hold of my how to brew beer video back in the ”90s and now they’re an award winning Canadian brewery. They wanted us, NoMeansNo to play a show at the bar in their brewery and we decided to collaborate. I‘d make the recipe and they would they would make it for me.” he said adding “Rauch” is a German term meaning smoky.”
“ It is literally translated as  hole of the devil, because it describes the convergence of three rivers by Shawinigan where aboriginals used to throw missionaries to their deaths,” he described.

He noted a lot of people, including himself got into micro-brewing their own beer because they appreciated  the DIY ethic of them both.
“ I hated all Canadian beer except craft beer, so I decided to brew my own.  I started off like most people — with a kit. It’s actually very similar to cooking and I also enjoy cooking. I feel at home in a kitchen,” he said.

“And I hated having to pay excessive taxes on imported beer,” he said adding  micro-brewing is starting to take off.
“ Our old soundman who actually recorded the live album at the Coaldale hotel actually became a brewer in Vancouver with Bomber Brewing,” he said.
They are excited about returning  to Coaldale.

“Chixdiggit are playing, so that should be exciting. If you’ve seen the Hanson Brothers before, it will be the same thing. It’s going to be a great show. We have three albums. So we’ll be playing the songs and a  having a, lot of Punk Rauch.”
 There will also be special linesmen on stage.
“ Usually we get the backing band to dress up as linesmen to make sure things don’t get out of hand on stage. Or we’ll get friends to take on that part,” he said.
He noted punk rock and hockey are pretty closely related.
“Hockey is really exciting and  high energy and punk rock is really high energy and exciting. I never understood why country and western music is related to hockey, because it is pretty bland,” he said.
As expected, they are huge hockey fans.
“We’re all Montreal Canadiens fans now. Quebec can’t separate, because Montreal is the only team that has a chance of bringing the Stanley Cup back to  Canada. Vancouver will probably lose the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals in 2026,” he laughed.
 Doors open at Sidelines, April 19 at 8 p.m. Advance tickets cost $20 including a free bottle of Pilsner, or $25 at the door which doesn’t include the beer.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor