NOFX
"Punk In Drublic" CD (Epitaph)
One of the nice things about doing a zine with another person is that you can subject them to loud music during layout. While putting this issue together, I played this album for Eric and he had a seizure of sorts. Actually, he developed a rather severe (and temporary) facial tic, but seizure is close enough. It really is that good.
"I Heard They Suck Live!!" CD (Fat Wreck Chords) / "Heavy Petting Zoo" CD (Epitaph)
I open my mail and find two, count 'em, TWO NOFX discs in my mailbox only a few days after Christmas. Well, I guess since I was waiting up to jump Santa, dish out a beatdown and then snag that bag o' goodies, he just decided to visit the post office instead of dropping stuff under the tree. Figures. Anyway, here's what I learned from these discs: Fat Mike doesn't want people to spit on him at live shows because you can get hepatitis like that and he isn't that punk. NOFX can do cheesy mosh parts. They really like people to tell them to fuck off. They can sound like S.O.D. if they want to. They can play solos, but they don't last too long. They seem to have seen "The Sound of Music." They beat up a hippie to get a tie-dyed shirt. What I already knew: They're just about the punkest motherfuckers I ever heard. You need these albums.
"So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes" CD (Epitaph)
Sunday morning and naturally I'm all out of pithy comments to praise or denigrate this record. It's more consistent than "Heavy Petting Zoo," but not as good as "Punk In Drublic." It's worth it just to get "I'm Telling Tim," a diatribe about folks who are punker-than-thou in general and one in particular. Let's call that song Concord 1 (those of you who read your history book instead of writing Pennywise in the margins will understand). Then there's Concord 2 - "Kill Rock Stars," a musical diatribe about the Olympia-based label. These screeds position Fat Mike as the Thomas Jefferson of punk - not a bad place to be, as long as you don't mind pissing people off.