NOFX

This punk band started in 1983. The band currently is: Erik Sandin - drums; Eric Melvin - guitar; Fat Mike - bass, vox; El Hefe - guitar. A few people have filtered in and out of the band over the years, but Sandin, Melvin, and Mike have been with the band pretty much all along. The current lineup has been stable since 1991. The band's name was inspired by a group that is defunct and only had one record called Negative FX and the band likes to think the name meant they were going against all the gimmicky crap that was popular when they formed. NOFX's first show was at Cathay de Grande in Hollywood. They first toured in 1985. This tour included some guy's garage in Boise. Later that year they started their first real US Tour. The eventually joined up with Epitaph Records and have released many albums with them.

The band's first real Epitaph release, Ribbed, gained them some popularity and made a name for the band in the early 90s punk scene. Steve Kidwiller, the guitarist on S&M Airlines and Ribbed, decided to leave the band after Ribbed because of the rampant drug abuse by the other band members. NOFX searches yet again for a guitarist. Several friends of band members are invited to try out including a guy named Aaron, who not only plays guitar but also trumpet. But the band already has an Eric and an Erik to add an Aaron would be confusing. They needed to give Aaron a new name. Aaron was christened El Hefe.

El Hefe being a legitimate musician, maybe the only one in the band at the time, immediately begins to influence the NOFX sound. The band releases White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean with this new sound. They lose a few "old school" fans, but continue to increase their fanbase.

With Punk In Drublic NOFX puts out, arguably, the best punk album of the 1990s. If you want a NOFX album and aren't sure which one to get, this is the one. An album filled with hard driving riffs, punk motifs, and humor, with a good solid sound. Everything seems to click on this album and every track is decent if not awesome. "Linoleum" and "Lori Meyers" being my two favorites.

Like so many bands before them their next studio release after a great album is a bit of a disappointment. Heavy Petting Zoo not only had problems musically, but also visually. The cover art which featured a man having sex with a sheep disturbed some and had problems in some countries. The message behind the album's artwork was a vegetarian one not a bestiality one. (I hope.)

On So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes we see NOFX come back with a powerful album. Which includes Ska! Ska? What the hell is a well respected punk band like NOFX doing making Ska? Fuck the naysayers! I find it hard to call this a ska album, three ska songs and a bunch of great punk ones. I think the punk overpowers the ska here. The band was just testing out some ideas, calm down you overzealous purists. The band makes a few ska songs and to this day I hear people say "Didn't they used to play ska?" They originally were punk, they were still punk then, and remain punk. But there was enough of an outcry amongst fans to prompt the band to later write the song "We Don't Play Ska Anymore". The name of the album comes from the Douglas Adams book So Long And Thanks For All The Fish and refers to the fact that fans like to throw shoes at them and the band started keeping them.

The EP The Decline isn't really an "album", it is an 18 minute 19 second single. The song is pretty cool it is fairly dynamic and changes and matures as the song plays on. Like an old school 8 minute Metalica song or a classical piece (with singing, of course) the song doesn't get repetitious, but carries the listener through a musical experience.

Pump Up The Valuum was a bit of a disappointment to me. It has some great songs on it and many sound great, but I find that I can't relate to most of the lyrics. I don't live the punk rock lifestyle that most of these songs are about. If you like NOFX's earlier albums it is worth checking out. They haven't wussed out or softened up. I eagerly await their upcoming split with Rancid.

They will never be on MTV and are proud of that. Their songs cover a wide range of topics, from politics to lesbian dominatrixes. In other words sometimes they have a message, sometimes they are just having fun. They have built a very large fan base even without MTV or Radio play.

Albums:

Pump Up The Valuum -- Epitaph Records (2000)

So Long and Thanks for All The Shoes -- Epitaph Records (1997)

Heavy Petting Zoo/Eating Lamb -- Epitaph Records (1996)

I Heard They Suck Live -- Fat Wreck Chords (1995)

Maximum Rocknroll -- Mystic Records (1995)

Punk In Drublic -- Epitaph Records (1994)

White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean -- Epitaph Records (1992)

Ribbed -- Epitaph Records (1991)

S&M Airlines -- Epitaph Records (1989)

Liberal Animation -- Epitaph Records (1988)

EPs and 7"s:

Surfer -- Fat Wreck Chords (2001)

Bottles to the ground -- Epitaph Records (2000)

Pods and Gods -- Fat Wreck Chords (2000)

The Decline -- Fat Wreck Chords (1999)

All of Me -- Fat Wreck Chords (19??)

Timmy the Turtle -- Fat Wreck Chords (1999)

Fuck The Kids -- Fat Wreck Chords (1998)

Don't Call Me White -- Epitaph Records (1997)

Louise and Liza -- Fat Wreck Chords (19??)

Liza and Louise -- Fat Wreck Chords (19??)

The Longest Line -- Fat Wreck Chords (1992)

The P.M.R.C. Can Suck On This -- Fat Wreck Chords (1988)

HOFX -- Fat Wreck Chords (19??)

So What if We're On Mystic! -- Mystic Records (1986)

E Is for Everything -- Mystic Records (19??)

s/t -- Mystic Records (19??)

Bootlegs:

Ten Years of Fuckin' Up -- Fat Wreck Chords (1994)

www.nofxofficialwebsite.com or nofx.org

info gathered from their website, allmusic.com, and my mind.