Ahhh NOFX. What more can be said about this legendary band that brought snotty, delinquent fun back to punk rock. Uhhh, a lot.
Their latest release "45 or 46 songs that weren't good enough to go on our other records" is a two disc set that contains a bunch of rare songs, b-sides, comp tracks, and both the "Fuck the Kids" and "Surfer" 7"s. Most hardcore NOFX fans probably own all of this stuff, but for the casual fan (me), this is perfect. I don't own a record player and I don't have the time or money to hunt down all of these songs, so naturally, I was quite excited to hear that NOFX would be releasing all of this shit in a nice convenient package.
The first disc has all of the b-sides, rare songs, comp tracks etc. on it. I won't go into describing what it all sounds like because unless you've been living under a rock for the past decade, you know what NOFX sounds like. All i can say is I loved just about every song on here (with the possible exception of the Eat the Meek dub mix). Don't let the album title fool you, these songs are actually really good and I wonder why some were left off of their full-lengths. There is a really old 47 second hardcore song on here from back in '87 called "Punk Song" that's surprisingly good (in a speedy, thrashy way). Also there's an even older track (hidden after the last song) from their first demo way back in '84 called "Thalidomide Child" that's... uhhh... not so good. Still it's kinda enjoyable listening to a young NOFX (they were 16 when they put out the song) play some rough sloppy hardcore. All in all there are 22 songs of punkrock goodness on the 1st disc. Click here for the complete track listing.
Now for the 2nd disc. This is the one with "Surfer" and "Fuck the Kids" 7"s on it. Let me explain (to the uninitiated) what these little gems previously only available on vinyl are. Well, NOFX basically got a little tired of the sterile, overproduced punk and decided to go into the studio for a day or two and play fast, sloppy punk songs that were written in about 10 minutes each. Fat Mike tells the guys in the band how a song goes and then they bust it out. The first take of each song they actually made it to the end of, they kept. The result? "Fuck the Kids" was born. Speedy, catchy, raw, sloppy, hilarious punk made the way it once was. Then about 4 years later, they decided to pull the same stunt and ended up with another great 7" titled "Surfer" (with a hilarious cover parodying "Suffer"). All of the songs are really great. They aren't masterpieces, but they are truly enjoyable. Loud, sloppy punk at it's finest. There are a few songs where NOFX manages to capture their early hardcore days. Great stuff. Oh and did I mention how funny some of these songs are? Just reading their titles is enough to make you crack a smile. "Fun Things to Fuck", "Can't Get the Stink Out", "Puke on Cops", and "I Gotta Pee" are bound to make you laugh. There are also plenty of interesting things being said by the band before, after, and even during the songs. Fat Mike really shows his talent in making hilariously irreverent punk here.
A nice thick booklet also comes with this release. It contains humorous descriptions of each song and some great liner notes all done by Fat Mike. This booklet is almost worth the purchase alone. There are lyrics to every song, lots of great pictures, and enough of Fat Mike's smartass comments to make any NOFX fan happy. I actually laughed out loud at some of Mike's various musings. He really is a funny guy.
So is all of this really worth it to the casual NOFX fan? Without a doubt it is. You wouldn't want to miss out on this impressive wealth of unheard NOFX. What about to the hardcore fan who already has all of these songs? I still say yes. They put all of this shit together in one convenient package with an awesome booklet to boot. Plus you can listen to those rad 7"s in your car now. Oh yeah, the thing costs the same as a single CD so you don't have to worry about the price.
So what the fuck are you waiting for? Go smash into your local record store and steal this thing before everyone else does.