So, I’m not a fan of social media, for a slew of reasons, but once in a while, my casual strolls through the Instagram and Facebook walls pay dividends. Case in point, this Riot Fest flexi pack from Fat Wreck Chords. See, I didn’t go to this year’s Riot Fest (or any of the prior years), but one of the punk dudes I follow posted a quick heads up that Fat was selling leftover flexi packs on their website for a cool $15. Included is a split between Mad Caddies and Face to Face, Snuff and Swingin’ Utters, and finally, Night Birds and NOFX. Flexis, as a rule, don’t contain a whole lot of quality, but this pack was a fun surprise. Thanks, Instagram dude!
Tag Archives: NOFX
Banned
Though they’re currently banned from playing any major venue in the United States, NOFX was (and still pretty much is) a big event, especially at the (now defunct) Hollywood House of Blues. Can’t remember which date I attended, but I had to go solo for this one (2007). Bonus points for the inclusion of Pennywise on the same flyer.
Lager No More
Spotted this lager for only the second time in my Los Angeles travels. Thanks to the band’s insensitive comments in Vegas a few weeks ago, this mediocre treat is now discontinued. Pick it up if you see it. You won’t very shortly.
The Principle of Changing Your Mind
Let’s take a quick moment and talk about Robert Plant and his 1983 album, The Principle of Moments… in fact, let’s not. Let’s save that for another day when I can re-spin in the attempts to uncover this fine and meaningful Principle. INSTEAD, let’s drastically shift gears to the forthcoming Mad Caddies reggae covers album due out on June 15th. A few sneaky digital tracks have surfaced, including a stellar version of NOFX’s She’s Gone from their 1992 classic, White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean. Please do yourself a favor and follow the link over to Spotify and check it out. You’re going to want a copy of this 12-track album of classic punk songs with a Mad Caddies-infused reggae twist. I can’t wait for this album to arrive.
Wolves
NOFX’s 2006 flop, Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing, came packaged as both black and yellow splatter vinyl. The latter with a pressing total of 1032. Back in ought six, I was able to procure 6x copies of this splatter nightmare. I’ve sold all but 3x copies, and only spin the black vinyl version when I’m feeling particularly randy. Anyway, Wolves isn’t as bad as people tell you, and you should give it a spin.
Kill All the White Man
Here are the lyrics to NOFX’s 1992 hit, Kill All the White Man, by means of The Longest Line EP insert. Not necessarily a top 40 classic, or even a legitimate radio song, but some much-needed truth can be found within this joke band’s joke song. The only question is, who’s laughing?
Drunk in Public
So, this hoppened (see what I did there?). Fat Mike of famed NOFX teamed up with (and apparently caused disruption for) the Stone Brewing company. Labeled as a “hoppy lager,” Punk in Drublic was (very) recently released in the Southern California area to promote a punk all-start / craft brew tour of the same name (Punk in Drublic… NOFX’s fifth studio album released back in 1994). If you can find it, GET IT! Not so much for the taste, but for the pure awesomeness that is this reality. Cheers.
The Two
I’ve been going back and forth between these two albums over the past few days. They couldn’t be any more different in style, but they both hold important positions in my personal history. One one hand, you’ve got White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean (not the original title… this is the PG version) which takes me back to my high school years, and The Best of the Statler Brothers, which takes me back even further to my adolescent years. “Going back” is the theme, I suppose, and both are adequate vehicles by which to travel. It’s good to have options, I suppose.
Is it Red?
1991’s Ribbed by (then) Los Angeles clowns NOFX received the red vinyl reissue treatment back in 2010. Crazy to think that was 7 years ago, already. Every few years Epitaph Records reissues small color variant batches of its classic albums, so it was only a matter of time before we saw another Ribbed variant. Also released in 2010 is a blue vinyl version, and the crème de la crème dropped in 2014 (clear vinyl). Still on the lookout for that one.
S&M Airlines of Hope
Let’s roll out of 2016 in blazing style, aboard S&M Airlines. I won’t get into the plethora of ways 2016 was one of the worst years of my existence, I’ll only hold one, desperate match in the attempts at keeping the flame of hope alive. 2016, you are dead, and I couldn’t be happier. 2017, I look at you with hesitant optimism. Don’t let us down. Happy New Year, kids.
Life in the Fat Lane
Life in the Fat Lane, Fat Music Vol. 4 was my first introduction to The Ataris, and their late 90s summer classic, San Dimas High School Football Rules. They must have fallen into obscurity after that, as that was my only exposure to this crazy pop punk band. A quick Discogs check indicates that The Ataris, in fact, did NOT fall into obscurity as they put out a new, self-released album just last year. LitFL also houses Lagwagon’s May 16, Me First & the Gimme Gimmes’ My Favorite Things, and Tilt’s Old School Pig, all of which were late 90s personal classics. Anyway, enjoy your hump day, kids!So Long and Thanks for All the Kale
NOFX’s 1997 minorpiece, So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes received an exclusive Hot Topic (pauses post to eat Sugarfish dinner… mmm… resumes post) release along with its 2010 tan vinyl counterpart (previously touched upon here). Limited to 650 copies, this kale green version fetches a not-so-hefty $39.99 over at Disogs (current as of this post), and is one of six colored releases (original black in 1997, clear pink reissue in 2009, this green version from 2010, the tan version previously mentioned from 2010, a brown version from 2014, and finally, again current as of this post, a pink marbled version also from 2014). So there you have it, kids. Everything you never needed to know about the colored vinyl pressings by this @$$hole band’s seventh studio album. Cheers.
Essential Reading Material
When camping, I find a good book helps to set the calming, relaxing, slow-paced vibe of living like a pampered homeless person. I just cracked open NOFX’s The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories, and it’s absolutely, without question, batshit crazy… in the best, possible sense of the term. Anyway, no records this round. Just ZZ Top’s first album over the iPod, good company, and random-ass NOFX stories. Life is good.
Monday Night Blues
Between rain delays and episodes of Murder She Wrote, I was able to get through a few records this weekend. One of which was this Record Story Day release by bay area misfits NOFX titled, Sid & Nancy. With some sources claiming a limited run of 1000 copies, and others saying 750, I felt it wise to enlist / convince a buddy to nab an additional copy. The music is run of the mill NOFX (and that’s a good thing), but the vinyl presentation is brilliant. Full disclosure here, I forgot to take a photo for today’s post, and was stuck with attempting to salvage whatever random record related photo I had on my phone… hence the birth, and by tomorrow, the ultimate death of this post. When your reminders go off, don’t ignore them…
Woah, Nelly
Woah, Nelly, am I excited for this book! Yes, that was just an Earthworm Jim reference… and I’m painfully okay with it. A quasi-autobiography-type-thing about one of my favorite high school bands which has sustained relativity and sonic consistency some 33 years after its pubescent, angry inception. NOFX has a book, you say? Where, and how much?
Also, RIP Merle Haggard.
So What…
Record on the right, the 1986 black vinyl (vs yellow or blue… le sigh) Super Seven Records release, So What if We’re on Mystic! EP. The record on the left, one of the 126 Inches of NOFX box set from 2012 of the same name. The original was one of the first records sought after in my early collecting days. You see, Bob Turkee, the dick that he may be, was my favorite song for a good year or so, and I needed to own a copy of its origin. NOFX, or No F-X as it were, have come a long way, but they’ve (arguably) never exceeded their crowning achievement, Bob Turkee.
Violet Vomit
NOFX’s fourth chronological album was actually the third album in the autobiographical sense. Not that this matters in any capacity, but upon discovering White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean, I’d found that the band’s rhetoric sounded much more polished and mature than, what I THOUGHT was their previous offering (and my first introduction to the band), 1994’s Punk in Drublic. Well, I was wrong… clearly. To this day I still stutter-step when mentally placing this band’s large output in any discernible order, and every time, White Trash trips me up. This nonsensical rant certainly does nothing to undercut the severity of this amazing album, and should (probably) be forgotten as soon as humanly possible (preferably sooner). Happy Friday!
Drunk in Public
Arguably the soundtrack to my 1994 summer, NOFX’s fifth studio album Punk in Drublic saw a slight cover variation between the compact disc and the vinyl release. For unknown reasons, the CD had a pink sky behind the floating rodeo queens and the pervie kid below, while the vinyl version (as you can plainly see here) has a light brown sky.
Serving (more or less) as the band’s greatest hits album (though, as previously stated, is a proper studio album), Punk in Drublic features the following personal favs: Scavenger Type, Lori Meyers, The Brews, Linoleum, Don’t Call Me White, and Punk Guy. A dubbed cassette version of this album (the B-side being Pennywise’s 1995 classic, About Time) lived inside my truck for a solid three years, and was constantly turned down (or off) by frequent riders as being “not universally enjoyable.” Oh, what I wouldn’t give to experience this album fresh for the first time again.
Garbage
Lagwagon’s brand of snotty, emotionally-charged pop punk was, and still is, a staple for the Fat Wreck Chords label. The band’s longevity and continued popularity among middle class youth (now middle aged middle class) has spanned its influential wings across an impressive 23+ years. With many iterations throughout their tenure, and even more rock-solid studio releases, it doesn’t get any better than 1994’s Trashed, as far as I’m concerned. What you’re seeing here is a reissue from the 10 LP box set, Putting Music in its Place from back in ’11. A personal classic, Lagwagon continues to demand my respect.
Pump
2000’s Pump Up the Valuum was just about the time I started to “respectfully” lose interest in NOFX. As one who is prominent in giving respect where (crass) respect is due, I’ll always hold the NOFX hand close to the chest, but at a certain point, abandonment seems a worthy option.
I doubt I’ve heard this album in over 15 years… that, is my cross to “badger.”
The Prudent Groove 