Pointed Sticks

{{Infobox musical artist

| background = group_or_band

| name = Pointed Sticks

| image =

| caption =

| image_size =

| alias =

| origin = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

| genre = {{hlist|Punk rock|new wave{{cite web|first= Mark |last= Deming |title= The Pointed Sticks – Artist Biography |publisher= AllMusic. All Media Network |url= http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-pointed-sticks-mn0000299702/biography |accessdate= August 27, 2016}}}}

| years_active = {{start date|1978}}–{{end date|1981}}
2006–present

| label = {{hlist|Stiff|Zulu|Sudden Death|Northern Electric Records|Quintessence}}

| website =

| current_members =

Nick Jones
Bill Napier-Hemy
Gord Nicholl
Tony Bardach
Ian Tiles

| past_members =

Robert Bruce
Ken Montgomery
Johnny Ferreira
Scott Watson

}}

Pointed Sticks (sometimes credited as the Pointed Sticks) are a Canadian punk rock/new wave band from Vancouver consisting of vocalist Nick Jones, guitarist Bill Napier-Hemy, bassist Tony Bardach, drummer Ian Tiles, and keyboardist Gord Nicholl. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, the band reunited in 2006 and have since been sporadically active. As of 2025, they have released four studio albums and three compilations.

History

Pointed Sticks was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1978, by vocalist Nick Jones, guitarist Bill Napier-Hemy, bassist Tony Bardach, and drummer Ian Tiles; keyboard player Gord Nicholl joined soon after. They later added Johnny Ferreira on saxophone, Scott Watson took Bardach's place, and Tiles was replaced by Robert Bruce and later by Ken Montgomery.

The band released three singles and were subsequently signed to Stiff Records, the first Canadian band on the British label's roster. They travelled to London and recorded an album with Nigel Gray, but the label chose not to release it, and the band returned to Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.suddendeath.com/bands_pointedsticks.html |title=Sudden Death Records: Pointed Sticks |accessdate=June 23, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708082202/http://www.suddendeath.com/bands_pointedsticks.html |archivedate=July 8, 2007 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.suddendeath.com/reviews.html |title=Sudden Death Records: Pointed Sticks |accessdate=May 31, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520021336/http://www.suddendeath.com/reviews.html |archivedate=May 20, 2007 }} Once there, they re-recorded their material with Bob Rock and issued their debut studio album, Perfect Youth, in 1980. They broke up a year later.

The first compilation of their recordings, Part of the Noise, was released in 1995 on Zulu Records. Perfect Youth was reissued by Sudden Death Records in 2005 with four bonus tracks,{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} and a year later, another compilation, consisting of singles, outtakes, and other rarities, entitled Waiting for the Real Thing, came out.

The original members of Pointed Sticks reunited in 2006 for a tour of Japan and continued to play sporadic concerts in Canada and the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.straight.com/article/the-pointed-sticks |title=The Pointed Sticks | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly |website=Straight.com |date=January 10, 2007 |accessdate=May 27, 2016}} A compilation titled Stiff Sessions was issued in Japan in 2008. In 2009, the band recorded an album of all new material, Three Lefts Make a Right, which was released in November by Northern Electric Records.

Pointed Sticks were featured in the 2010 documentary film Bloodied but Unbowed, about the Vancouver punk rock scene, directed by Susanne Tabata.[http://www.vancourier.com/entertainment/vancouver-punk-rock-doc-now-with-jello-1.387593 "Vancouver punk rock doc... now with Jello"]. Vancouver Courier, Michael Kissinger, January 18, 2012

A third, self-titled full-length album came out on Northern Electric via Sudden Death Records in 2015. In 2022, the band released Beautiful Future.

Name

The band gets its name from a Monty Python sketch, "Self-Defence Against Fresh Fruit", wherein Eric Idle repeatedly suggests that learning to defend against something like a pointed stick might be more useful than defending against fresh fruit.{{cite web|url=http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/python/banana.html |title=Monty Python Sketch – Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit |accessdate=June 23, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614232327/http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/python/banana.html |archivedate=June 14, 2007 }}