No Trend stood apart as a singular presence amid the Washington, D.C. punk community throughout the 1980s, since the group deliberately avoided any sense of belonging and would almost certainly have followed the same path no matter the setting. Their sound combined plodding tempos with aggressive energy and eccentric touches, building a wall of chaotic noise that only faintly suggested melody, most often through thick bass lines barely anchoring the compositions, while jagged guitars, venomous shouted vocals, charging drums, plus horns and keyboards added further disorienting clamor. Frequently likened to fellow noise merchants Flipper, the band achieved its most concentrated and elemental expression on the debut album Too Many Humans from 1983, reached a high point with the expansive Tritonian Nash-Vegas Polyester Complex in 1986, and gained fresh exposure through the 2018 compilation You Deserve Your Life, which offered a vivid survey of the early years.
Formed in Ashton, Maryland, No Trend arose in 1982 from the remnants of a prior outfit called the Aborted, initiated by lead vocalist Jeff Mentges, who was quickly joined by guitarist Brad Pumphrey, drummer Michael Salkind, and bassist Bob Strasser. The Aborted performed only once, sharing a bill with Government Issue, before dissolving, after which Mentges, Strasser, and Salkind brought in guitarist Frank Price to launch the new project. Committed to abrasive, confrontational sounds, No Trend set out to defy the prevailing currents of the thriving Washington, D.C. punk scene, particularly its straight edge faction, which they viewed as having embraced the conformity it purported to reject. Steven Blush, a local fan who promoted punk events in the capital, became a key supporter, serving as manager and securing opening slots for the Dead Kennedys, Hüsker Dü, T.S.O.L., and other prominent punk acts of the era. Blush would later author the definitive account of the 1980s hardcore punk movement, American Hardcore: A Tribal History.
During March 1983 the band recorded at Inner Ear Recording Studio in Arlington, Virginia, capturing their initial release, the three-song 7" EP No Trend, which featured tracks including "Mass Sterilization Caused by Venereal Disease," "Cancer," and "Teen Love." The record was meant to align with their first national tour, yet production delays meant it surfaced shortly after their return. One year later the EP received a remix and reissue as a 12" vinyl edition augmented by two additional cuts, "Die" and "Let's Go Crazy."
Shortly after completing their debut full-length Too Many Humans, issued in 1984, Bob Strasser and Michael Salkind departed in August 1983. Bassist Jack Anderson and drummer Greg Miller filled the rhythm section for a year, and by the arrival of the follow-up A Dozen Dead Roses in 1985 the lineup had turned over entirely. Jeff Mentges remained the sole original member, now credited as Jefferson Scott, alongside newcomers Dean Evangelista on guitar, Benard Demassy on sax, Danny "Spidako" Demetro on keyboards, Robert "Smokeman" Marymont on bass, and Ken Rudd on drums. The album also included guest vocals by Lydia Lunch on four songs, which appeared separately on the EP Heart of Darkness.
Having previously issued their own recordings, the group signed with Touch & Go Records for 1986's Tritonian Nash-Vegas Polyester Complex. The album brought further personnel shifts, with only Mentges, now performing as Clif "Babe" Ontego, and Evangelista, who switched to keys, carrying over; the expanded roster added guitarists Bobby Birdsong and Leif, bassist Smokey, percussionist Chris Pestelozzie, drummer James "Fuzz" Peachy, cellist Rogelio Maxwell, and a four-piece horn section of Paul Henzey, Johnny Ontego, Scott Rafal, and Nick Smiley. The group's approach had grown more varied by then, incorporating traces of jazz, funk, and prog rock, and Mentges along with his collaborators extended this direction on a planned fourth album intended as their most refined and technically ambitious work, yet still uncompromising. Touch & Go declined to release the material, citing its eccentricity and divisive character, and Mentges could not secure another label. With an unreleasable album and departing collaborators, he disbanded No Trend in 1988.
Following the group's conclusion, Mentges wrote and directed the low-budget feature Of Flesh and Blood before leaving music behind and later establishing a career in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning repair. Original drummer Michael Salkind oversaw the archival collection The Early Months in 1995, which gathered the nine tracks from the band's first studio session together with ten recordings from a 1983 Baltimore concert. In 2001 the reissue imprint Morphius Archives finally issued the unreleased final album as More. The complete 1983 studio session previously heard on The Early Months reappeared on vinyl in 2018, augmented by two live performances of otherwise unrecorded material, as the Digital Regress album You Deserve Your Life. Drag City Records released an expanded edition of the Too Many Humans LP paired with the Teen Love EP in 2020, incorporating additional rare and unreleased studio recordings, demos, and live tracks. The Too Many Humans/Teen Love package also appeared in a deluxe version that reproduced No Trend's fanzine, show flyers, and a 40-page book containing a complete band history.
