If you’re a regular PT reader and have never listened to NOFX then you must be in the minority. Anyone who was anyone in the 90s listened to ‘Punk In Drublic’ and the stream of EpiFat bands that followed. Suffice to say, for all of the legendary ‘must have’ albums NOFX have released, they’ve also put out some stinkers. The last few records have been NOFX-by-numbers and even though the band have had something to say with their anti-Bush baiting tracks, in my eyes the music and the songs just haven’t hit the spot. Until ‘Coaster’ arrived.
This is a real return to form. It’s not a huge departure from the sound the band have trademarked over the years, but there are subtle changes which give this record a little diversity. There’s also a lot more humour thrown in, with ‘Creeping Out Sara’ and ‘Eddie, Bruce and Paul’ sung with tongue firmly in cheek. Fat Mike has a huge dig at bands such as Underoath and Paramore too with the Christian-bashing of ‘Best God In Show’. It’s more of the NOFX of old when the band thrash through the 12 tracks in less than half an hour. ‘We Called It America’ and ‘the Quitter’ get things of to a blast of a start and the tempo is kept up with the likes of ‘My Orphan Year’ and ‘Suits and Ladders’. But then things are mixed up nicely with tracks such as ‘I Am An Alcoholic’ which sounds a bit lounge-esque at the start with a trumpet solo and a generally laid back feeling.
‘Coaster’ is NOFX‘s best record since ‘So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes’. I’d kind of given up on them – more fool for me. Just when you thought NOFX were past their best they come back stronger than ever.