NOFX - Coaster Review

Posted by Tom Santoro on 05.15.2009

Fat Mike and NOFX are back with their 11th studio album in 25 years. Now that George Bush is out of office what will they sing about...religion, alcoholism, Canadian band Teagan and Sara and the decline of America and the record industry. Who say's you can't teach old punks new tricks?

TRACK LISTING:

1. We Called It America
2. The Quitter
3. First Call
4. My Orphan Year
5. Blasphemy (The Victimless Crime)
6. Creeping Out Sara
7. Eddie, Bruce, Paul
8. Best God in Show
9. Suits and Ladders
10. The Agony of Victory
11. I Am an Alcoholic
12. One Million Coasters



Fat Mike and the boys have been doing this punk thing for 25 years. In those 25 years, NOFX has been a pillar of the punk music scene and according to their bio have released 11 full length studio albums. On Coaster, the band continues to lambast societies hypocrisies through their satirical brand of humor.

After spending much of the past decade trying to get George W. Bush out of office, NOFX goes back to focusing on many of the subjects they have railed on for years like religion and alcoholism. This time they also have songs about the declines of both America and the record industry. Also, they take jabs at Teagan and Sara and Iron Maiden.

The stand out tracks are “We Called It America”, “First Call”, “My Orphan Year”, “Creeping Out Sara”, “Best God in Show” and “One Million Coasters”. After years of being angry at W., NOFX is back pissing on American ideals. There is only a smattering of anti-government sentiment on songs like “We Called It America” and “Suits and Ladders”. The subject of “We Called It America” is how the US of A is not the strongest country in the world due to poor leadership. The skate park anthem is Mike’s final parting shot against W.

“First Call” may be my song of the year! The song is about the virtues of opening a bar up rather than closing it down. On the track, Mike gleefully sings “It’s not a walk of shame it’s a walk of pride, people go to work as we’re getting cockeyed.” It’s a jab at Mike’s alcoholism, but I fully believe in the concept of opening bars instead of closing one down!

On “My Orphan Year”, Mike gets serious as he opens up about losing both of his parents. He recounts how his relationship with his dad was poor and how his mother suffered with cancer for 7 years. It shows that Fat Mike is not a cartoon character and shows he has depth. “I am an Alocholic” is also a somewhat serious song about Mike’s dependence on drugs and booze, though it’s hard to tell if it is a cry for help or him mocking himself.

NOFX has taken more shots at religion than most other subjects in their career and the album has two songs about it, “Blasphemy (The Victimless Crime)” and “Best God in Show”. “Best God in Show” is a ska song that take jabs at things Mike feels are fictional like “Santa Claus” and “unicorns”. He also takes shots at people who thank God for things like “grammys”, “scoring touchdowns” and “blowing up an enemy’s sacred ground”.

One of the highlights is Fat Mike recounting (possible) a meeting with Sara of Teagan and Sara on the song “Creeping Out Sara.” It features some very witty repartee like him saying “this Jew knows the Junos (Canadian Grammys).” He feigns interest and then lets his id take over by asking things like had “her sister and her ever double teamed a girl or had a forgy or a fivesome?” Whether the story is fictional is up for debate, but the message is that dumb guys have insensitive views on lesbianism.

NOFX also takes a humorous view at Iron Maiden’s (referred to as Eddie) lead singers. Clearly, they prefer Paul D’ainno to the falsetto and clean living of Bruce Dickinson.how are you going to rock and roll without substance abuse?”. It’s closing line is funny “the number of the beast is in bed with Rob and Judas Priest.”

“One Million Coasters” is a song about the CD going the way of the dinosaur like the 8-Track and the Atari 2600. It provides new uses for CDs since everybody is putting their music on hard drives. Being the head of a record label (Fat Wreck) Fat Mike, describes his warehouse full of boxes of worthless CDs that will never be purchased.

The 411: Overall, Coaster is one of NOFX’s better records as they finally shift their focus back to poking fun at hypocrites. They are underrated because they are the clown that no one takes seriously. Get this album and help pure punk (and indie labels) survive!

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]