Ninja High School were a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 dance-punk

Dance-punk

Dance-punk is a music genre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the post-punk and No Wave movements.-Predecessors:...

 band, based in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, who merged hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 and hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 influences. It consisted of Matt Collins, Gregory Collins, Adrian Cvitkovic, Star DT, Whitney Kemble, Catherine Ribeiro, Steve Kado and Wolfgang Nessel. Craig Dunsmuir of Glissandro 70

Glissandro 70

Glissandro 70 is a Canadian band, consisting of Craig Dunsmuir and Sandro Perri, who play an amalgam of dance and experimental rock styles...

 has also been associated with the band.

History

The group has its origins at parties in Guelph, Ontario

Guelph, Ontario

Guelph is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Waterloo and west of downtown Toronto at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 7. It is the seat of Wellington County, but is politically independent of it...

, where frontman Matt Collins rapped while looping samples of James Brown

James Brown

James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

. NHS released an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 and a full-length album on Blocks Recording Club

Blocks Recording Club

Blocks Recording Club is a Canadian co-operative of musicians, which serves as both a collaborative artist community and a record label for its member artists.The label's name may also be cited graphically as □□□□□□ rather than the word "Blocks"...

; both releases garnered airplay on CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...

.

In 2005, the band signed a distribution deal with German record label Tomlab

Tomlab

Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final Fantasy, Ninja High School, and The Hank...

, which also released the two-song "It's All Right to Fight" as part of its Alphabet Series.

They performed their last show in December 2007 at Sneaky Dee's

Sneaky Dee's

Sneaky Dee's is a bar on the south-east corner of the College and Bathurst intersection in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its original location was on Bloor Street west of Bathurst, but it moved to its present location in 1990....

 in Toronto.

Reception

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...

has referred to the band as "popular theoretical-rap cheer squad Ninja High School". Chart

Chart (magazine)

ChartAttack is a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine called Chart, which was published from 1991 to 2009, the web version continues operation....

magazine wrote that the album Young Adults Against Suicide "is thoughtful, catchy and, for a lo-fi recording, it sounds awesome" and went on to call "Invasion Party" "hands-down one of the best tracks of the year."

Young Adults Against Suicide reached the top ten of some college and alternative music charts in Canada.

Discography

• We Win! (2004)
• Alphabet Series H 7-inch (2005)
• Young Adults Against Suicide (2005)
• The Terminator Mixtape Cassette (2007)