So NOFX is now officially on Fat, and to kick it off they released an EP that is a "teaser" by anyone's definition. 3 of the 4 songs will be on their anti-Dubya full length "The War on Errorism" due out May 6th, and the 5th track is a hilarious ad for it.
"Medio-core" is a great song, and a bit of a departure from NOFX's standard procedure. It's got a slow bass-driven groove with a sparse yet cool guitar part and great backing vocals, and a bit of swing in the later verses. This is interspersed with louder, more typical NOFX parts, and the song breaks into double time in the end.
A more traditional sounding "Idiots are Taking Over" has a break-neck tempo that slows down for a ska bridge. Yeah, I though they said they would never play ska again⦠and no, this is not reggae. I have no problem with it though, but they should have put some of Hefe's trumpet in there, I miss it! Anyway, the song speeds up again and has some Melvin screams towards the end, but it is really nothing new or super-good, just decent. "Franco Un-American" is a good song, but it surprised me in starting out with a cliché synth part. It works in this mid-tempo poppy political song, which, ever since I first heard it, reminds me of "Quart in Session." Also, this song doesn't have anything to do with the company that makes Spaghetti-O's. Sorry.
Hardcore 84 is the one song that will not be on "The War on Errorism." It is an early 80's style hardcore song obviously, with Eric Melvin on lead vocals, appropriately. It goes through the years 81-84 with verses I can't understand and then a chorus that represents that year's hardcore (that's one guess). It's worth a listen, but not worth buying the EP just to hear it. The last track, the ad, plays some clips from other songs off the full length, with El Hefe doing his best announcer voice over it. The concept sounds lame, but they pull it off with some funny parts like when Hefe plays a clip and Fat Mike says, "dudeâ¦that one didn't make the record."
So, is this EP worth getting? No. Just wait for the full length, unless you can get this real cheap or free. Just as they say of their full length at the end of the ad, "Also available for free on the internet." Keep in mind this score is for the tracks themselves, (sort of a hypothesis on the scoring of "The War on Errorism") not the overall worth of this teaser EP.