NOFX – The War On Errorism

“Do you wanna go to the punk rock show?”
“Yeh! Lets go to the punk rock show!”

And it’s with this curious sample that NOFX‘s long awaited brand new full length begins. To say there’s been a buzz of anticipation around this release would be like saying Bob Hope is getting on a bit (He’s 100 this week, non-legendary American Celebrity recognising readers…). While there has been, and will be, bigger, better and more revolutionary albums released in 2003, the modern day uncles of melodic punk rock will always create a splash in the great big punk rock ocean. ‘The War On Errorism’, with it’s mildly provocative cover art, title and lyrical subject matter, has incited many a reaction from seasoned NOFX fans and haters alike. “Since when was Fat Mike political?” asked some (Since he grew up a little and became aware of his surroundings, came the reply) and “Do NOFX have a fresh riff left in them?” cried others (Yes, but they’re quite happy to recycle old ones as well…). Ultimately, does The War On Errorism live up to the high standards set by Mike, Hefe, Erik and Smelly throughout the past 15 years?

‘The Separation of Church and Skate’ is possibly one of the most exhilarating album openers since, well, Linoleum. The first few seconds lull the listener into a false sense of security then BOOM! Someone let off the fireworks without locking the pets up. While it is still strictly NOFX by numbers (and as they have become victims of their own success, it will take a hell of a lot for them to smash through that particular glass ceiling) it is step-by-step punk rock at it’s finest. ‘The Irrationality of Rationality’ strikes me as a possible excerpt from The Decline, and it is at this point that I’m going to have to do something I don’t want to do. Yes, it’s the old ‘clip A sounds like clip B’ game.

While I am loath to start this, I feel it has to be done. At numerous points throughout TWOE, I have to stop myself from screeching ‘Jeff don’t wear regular shoes!’ on ‘Regaining Unconsciousness’ or ‘Fuck a midget, fuck a dwarf, fuck Chris Cringle with an elf’ during ‘We Got Two Jealous Agains’, and I’m pretty damn sure that ‘The Idiots Are Taking Over’ is what you’d get if you took the whole of the Decline and rehashed it into a 3 minute song. After god knows how many albums, 7 inches and random EP’s, it’s hard not to start sounding like a parody of your earlier selves. Luckily, it is often the case that this parody can almost match the original work. However, sometimes, you end up with an Alistair McGowan as opposed to a Rory Bremner, and it all goes up a certain creek without a certain water-repositioning device … TWOE manages to raise itself closer to the positive than the negative, but it’s not all plain sailing.

On the plus side, they haven’t forgotten how to write a chorus, riff or little fill that gets stuck in your head for so fucking long that you consider taking a screwdriver to your frontal lobe just to make yourself stop singing it. ‘Franco Un-American’ really should be condemned for crimes against humanity with it’s ‘catchier than SARS’ refrain and it’s inoffensive yet delightful melody. Also, they’ve still retained a sense of the unexpected, which is mostly evident on ‘Whoops I Od’d’. As someone on our hallowed message boards remarked, “It’s the closest to emo NOFx will ever get”. Much like ‘Scavenger Type’ did for PID, this 3 minute tune tops the album off perfectly and is actually genuinely moving. While the lyrics are quite tongue in cheek, the subject matter and the way it is executed are actually quite stirring.

On the downside, while they were always borderline with the humour, the majority of the ‘jokes’ on this record fall flat on their face. ‘She’s Nubs’ is a poor mans ‘Monosyllabic Girl’ and ‘Medio-Core’, with it’s focus on panning bands for lacking originality and writing average songs, goes absolutely nowhere and acts more like a brief interlude than an actual song, dragging its heels and doing nothing until the final 50 seconds, when it really is too little too late. How ironic. ‘Mattersville’, while not being as uneventful as the previously mentioned numbers, still lacks a certain something, despite never failing to raise a smile with the ‘At the end of my cul-de-sac, Davey Havoks house is painted black’ line. Also, what is ’13 Stitches’ doing with itself? While the homage to influential bands of days gone by is commendable, it is a bafflingly boring song that has no place on anything but a b-side or a throwaway compilation track.

And then you have the middle road. ‘American Errorist’ is, in parts, excellent, yet fails to reach anything above a very good piece of filler in its entirety. ‘Anarchy Camp’ starts off with a distinctly Chubby Checker-esque sax solo and develops into a toe tapping organ led ska (what? NOFX? Ska? But … but …. Oh, get over it) song, and Decom-Poseur yet again employs a strangely familiar melody to good effect without doing anything that is particularly noteworthy.

On top of all this, the multimedia element to TWOE is pleasing, with a fantastic animated video for ‘Franco Un-American’ a Warped Tour based live video for ‘Idiot Son Of An Asshole’, as well as a kind of trailer for a documentary on the shambolic presidential campaign that resulted in George W Bush’s ‘appointment’ into office. So, ultimately, the majority of this album can be summed up using the lyrics from ‘Medio-core’. “They played the songs I knew they would, Some old, some new, the same formula stays true”. This is NOFX and sounds exactly like anyone would have predicted it to. Yet, somewhere in this mismatch of recycled riffs and random offshoots into ska and melodic hardcore is an excellent album fighting to get out. I was going to give a scathing review after my first few listens, then after a few more I found I was enjoying myself. Eventually, while nowhere near the quality of previous efforts, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt. A three and a half star album, but with an extra half thrown in because no matter what theyre detractors say (and, like with Rancid, it’s cool to hate NOFX nowadays) they are all the wrong side of 30, but with plenty of punch left in the bowl. Here’s to another ten years!

Ross