I was having a heated conversation with some friends not so long ago about which NOFX album was the best. In the end we narrowed it down to two; ‘Punk In Drublic,’ and this. For anyone who gives a shit, I argued that this was their best offering.
Rather than go through every song and say how great they are, I’ll keep this short, splitting the 16 tracks into three sections; the good, the bad, and the ska.
The first five tracks are blinding. Short, but blinding nonetheless. ‘Kids Of The K-Hole’ is one of the all-time great NOFX songs, whilst ‘Murder The Government’ is the best 40-second song you’ll ever hear. ‘Champs Elysees’ is the best French punk rock song you’ll ever hear, and ‘Falling In Love’ is just the best song you’ll ever hear. Well, almost. Fat Mike’s rather bizarre love song (it’s about him and his wife dying in a plane crash y’see) is a great way to close.
Then, the bad. Otherwise known as ‘Flossing A Dead Horse.’ OK, it’s not that bad, just compared to the rest of the album it’s a bit sub-standard. And I skip it every time, just because it preceeds the superb ‘Quart In Session.’
Finally, ska. ‘All Outta Angst’ and ‘Eat The Meek’ are both outstanding. When NOFX do ska, they do it well, so the question begs, why not do it more often?
Fat Mike’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics, combined with some screeching guitars, make this essential NOFX. If you’re new to the band, and want to buy an album, get this to kick-start your collection. You won’t be disappointed.
Paul Savage