So, here it is, perhaps the most eagerly awaited record the punk world has waited for in quite a while. Two absolute legends, Nofx and Rancid, covering each others songs on one CD. It sounds in theory to be absolutely perfect. How can it not be anything short of amazing? Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this isn't quite as good as it could be.
Don't get me wrong, this is a cracking CD and is a fantastic idea. Infact BYO Records should be thanked for managing to pull this off. It's just it doesn't quite live up to the hype, as is standard with these things. And I think the faults kind of lie with Nofx...
For anyone that has been living under a rock, this is how it goes. The two bands cover six of the others tracks for this one CD. The twist was that neither band told the other which tracks they would be doing. Nofx open things up with the Rancid classic 'I'm The One' and it's pretty damn good. It has that trademark Fat Mike vocal, but simply sounds like Nofx covering Rancid. That might sound stupid, but I believe that if you are going to cover a song you have to give it a new slant. Nofx don't, they just give it the Nofx treatment. It's just Fat Mike singing Rancid songs. It is good, don't get me wrong, but you are just left thinking that it could have been better. And this continues throughout most of the six Nofx tracks.
'Olympia WA' is good, the band playing really well, even if it does strike of being a little like Fat Mike karaoke. 'Tenderloin' is Nofx-by-numbers, with the original Rancid version far superior but 'Antennaes' is a vast improvement and is probably Fat Mike's best performance. 'Corozon De Oro' is pretty good too, with Nofx actually making it sound better than a simple cover. The last Nofx version is of 'Radio', which has El Hefe featuring on vocals, and is a nice way of ending proceedings.
Being ultra-critical (and hey, that's my job), I would probably say that Nofx could have chosen better songs. Listening to their versions of 'Timebomb' or 'Ruby Soho' would have been cool, and may have suited the band better. But I guess we will never know.
So, on to Rancid, who in my opinion are the better band on this CD. 'Moron Bros' kicks things off and whilst the intro sounds a bit like Nofx, as soon as the vocals start, you know it's Rancid. Tim has his signature slurs and yep, everything is looking rosy again. 'Stickin In My Eye' follows up next and it is another good cover. It does sound a bit like Nofx though without bordering too much on punk rock karaoke.
'Bob' is fantastic, it's a classic anyway and so quite rightly fits well into the Rancid school of punk rock. 'Don't Call Me White' is brilliant too, as is 'The Brews'. I know these are all well-known songs but they are by far the best tracks on the cd. Is this testament to Fat Mike's songwriting abilities, or simply because Rancid are a great band? I'll let you draw your own conclusions...
The record ends with the oldie (but goldie) 'Vanilla Sex', which it could be argued is even better than the Nofx original. Special mention must also be made to the two bass players, Matt Freeman and Fat Mike, who it almost seems are egging each other on to see who is better. Both put in sterling performances.
So, it's great and well worth purchasing, but it just leaves you with the impression that it's not quite as good as it could of been. It's the punk rock version of The Phantom Menace...
Paul Savage
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