Nerve - Self Autopsy

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Self Autopsy	04:52
	2	War Amps	02:52
	3	Penchant	03:07

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Preludes	05:23
	2	Tie Me Up	02:34
	3	$20 Whore	03:04

Photos

Videos

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Information/Write-up

The Nerve
Edmonton, Alberta | Active: 1977–1979
Members: P.J. Burton (vocals), Robin Brooks (guitar), Gary Keillor (guitar), Rod Wolfe (bass), Joe Kelly (drums)
Past members: Gary Law (bass)

“Punch-’em-in-the-guts, kick-’em-down-the-stairs rock and roll.” – Joe Sornberger, Edmonton Journal, 1978
“Dissonant sounds, verbal abuse and on-stage mutilation.” – Gary McGowan, Edmonton Journal, 1978

Edmonton’s first true punk band, The Nerve was raw, literate, theatrical, and unapologetically absurd. Born from the collision of prairie boredom and post-Sex Pistols inspiration, the group served as ground zero for Alberta’s punk awakening. Led by education student–turned–punk provocateur P.J. Burton, The Nerve were as likely to quote T.S. Eliot as they were to antagonize audiences with offbeat satire and volume.

Origins: “The Nerve held up the solitary New Wave flag”
From a 2013 interview with guitarist Robin Brooks and Robert Williston: https://citizenfreak.com/artists/100227-nerve

Robin Brooks: “The Nerve originally formed in Saskatoon. PJ Burton had moved there from Dauphin, Manitoba and met Gary Law in Winnipeg. By the time I met them in Edmonton, PJ was still on drums. He eventually moved out front as vocalist, and we brought in Joe Kelly on drums. I’d met Joe at a party—solid, hard-hitting guy. The final touch was Gary Keillor on guitar—he had the chops and loved loud music. That was the classic Nerve lineup: PJ, Rod Wolfe on bass, Joe on drums, Gary Keillor and myself on guitars.”

Their early gigs were university bookings and one-off shows, as bar owners were hesitant to book a band whose sound—and look—stood in opposition to the prevailing Foreigner/Eagles norm. The band was fueled by equal parts satire and sincerity. They famously performed at the Alberta School for the Deaf, provoking backlash for their dissonant, feedback-heavy sets and brash lyricism.

Recording & Legacy
In summer 1978, The Nerve entered The Machine Shop in Edmonton and recorded their only single, Penchant b/w Preludes, direct to 8-track tape with minimal overdubs. The release was privately pressed in a run of 500 copies and distributed at a record launch party in a downtown clothing store. No master tapes survive.

Robin Brooks: “Penchant was written entirely by PJ. Preludes was my music with PJ’s lyrics, adapted from T.S. Eliot. The rest was energy and tape hiss.”

Although the single was referenced in Frank Manley’s Smash the State compendium, it remained virtually unseen on the collector market for decades.

From Nerve to Smarties to Ozones
Due to reputational challenges, the band rebranded as The Smarties, a name Robin came up with on the spot when questioned at a bar. With Gary Pon replacing Keillor on guitar, the Smarties opened for D.O.A., The Pointed Sticks, and The Battered Wives, playing across Alberta’s underground circuit. Eventually, Burton split off with the name and re-formed a separate version of The Smarties.

Robin Brooks: “The rest of us—Rod, Pon, Joe, and myself—formed The Ozones. We kept playing some great gigs while PJ did his own thing.”

Rod Wolfe went on to a prolific career in Edmonton's alt/industrial scene with Shock, Informer, Voice (with Dwayne Goettel), Shadow Project, Zen Asylum, and more. He currently plays with Cockatoo and Even#. Brooks moved to Toronto and launched The Odd Fellows: https://citizenfreak.com/titles/293468-nerve-penchant-b-w-preludes

2025 Reissue – Supreme Echo
Reissued in April 2025, The Nerve returns with a deluxe archival LP curated by Supreme Echo. The definitive edition includes six studio recordings, headlined by the original Penchant / Preludes 45, all painstakingly remastered by Audu Obaje.

“Dark, hard rockin’, arty, and possibly offensive! The Nerve is ground-zero for Canadian prairie punk – unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Menacing fuzz guitars, pulsating infectious rhythms and unapologetically eccentric vocals.”

“Nobody in the band has any money and a recently administered battery of psychological tests revealed that none of them have any brains either.”
– From a 1978 promo letter by The Nerve

They taped electric motors to their butts, berated themselves into oblivion, and left behind a flash of punk brilliance that still buzzes. The Nerve: prairie punk’s primal scream.
-Robert Williston

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