Growing up in St. Louis was weird. My friends and I were stuck way out in the suburbs in all-white neighborhoods. Every night, the evening news featured horror stories about violent crime and drug busts in the city. When I was 14, NOFX, the Bouncing Souls and Hi-Standard came to town and my friends and I managed to worm our way into the St. Louis punk scene. Over the next few months, we discovered that St. Louis did NOT suck, much to our immense surprise. In those years, MU330, Alkaline Trio and the Blue Meanies could be found playing sweaty, disgusting gigs at any number of grimy venues on any given weekend. These shows were usually opened up by a cache of excellent local bands like Big Blue Monkey (later to become Story of the Year), Dig*Doug, Too Young the Hero, Celery and our personal favorite, the Rabies. To us, all of these bands were mind-blowingly good and helped us see St. Louis as a place other than a crime-riddled dump in the middle of the USA.

A few members of those local bands, including Dan Marsala of Story of the Year and Big Blue Monkey on vocals, started The Fuck Off and Dies! a few years ago after Story of the Year’s hiatus. The band is snotty, fast and fun. They also have a new digital EP, Young Punks/Old Drunks, out now on Bandcamp.

The EP is a short five tracks and is bookended by two wonderful tracks in the title track and “Before You’re Gone.” The middle three tunes are fast minute-or-less ragers reminiscent of many of the short party tunes from NOFX’s Wolves in Wolves Clothing.

While Marsala will be forever in perpetuity known for crooning his way through Story of the Year’s 2003 breakout smash hit “Until the Day I Die,” the dude is first and foremost a punk rock veteran in the local scene. This EP is a solid addition to their other EPs, all available cheap online, and a free download cover of Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You.”

You can check out the whole EP for free at the FOAD’s Bandcamp site. If you are a fan of Masked Intruder or NOFX, you will get a kick out of the band. They won’t change your musical outlook or anything, but they are at least fun and know how to have a good time. Plus, they are from my hometown; I have to give them a little props and let everyone know that St. Louis isn’t an awful place.