NOFX
The Decline (Fat)
by Scott Hefflon
“Where are all the stupid people from? And how did they get to be so dumb?” The first words of this one-song, 18-minute release set the stage for what yer gonna get on NOFX‘s latest EP of animosity. Fuckin’ brutal anti-everything commentary ripping away at human nature, the government, big business, slackerdom, God, injustice, violence, and the general avoidance/escapism that constitutes the way we stay sane in our daily lives. The distinct snarl of Fat Mike viciously rips away like a rabid dog (bashing away the way punk always has), using the punk idiom for what it was designed for, social change, and realizing the only people who’re gonna listen are those who speak the punk language – not the real enemy (the deaf, dumb, and blind zombies who make up most of the work force, dreaming their little dream of someday getting out of debt, having their kids not be such anxiety-ridden, drug-addicted, sex-fearing/indulging freaks who can rattle off ten great porn urls and quote Brittany Spears’ lyrics from memory, but couldn’t list more than the recently remade classics by Shakespeare, much less quote a favorite phrase). But The Decline also has the remarkable tendency to throw you off balance with finger-snapping bridges, some gorgeous horn arrangements and that breezy, mountain-vibe stuff Jane’s Addition pegged on Nothing Shocking. Not to mention great harmonies (natch) and some almost randomly-placed howls of frustration.
NOFX know their craft, to be sure, and I, for one, love the idea that this is all one “song,” thus ensuring no “shithead drawing a fat fuckin’ line over the title on the back sleeve” can overplay yet another single. (That’s from White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean‘s “Please Play this Song on the Radio” for you kids keeping score at home.) Practically legendary for their anti-industry tirades, their refusal to do interviews (if you’ve ever read a typical ‘zine interview, you can see why – and as for the big glossies, yeah, fuck the trend-jumping come-latelies), not to mention pounding the stage mercilessly year after year, and setting the bar for rampaging-yet-musical manic punk bands trying desperately to copy them, NOFX can do no wrong. While I have an admitted soft-spot for them, NOFX keep out-doing themselves lyrically and musically, never resting on their punk asses with the successes they’ve had in the past. And while I still gravitate toward Punk in Drublic, White Trash…, and Ribbed, The Decline and So Long and Thanks for all the Shoes (great fuckin’ title – based on a Douglas Adams book title, in case yer reading is limited to lyric sheets and hastily-written record reviews) have provided plenty of great quotables and melodies to sing/scream at the top of your lungs while passing cars on the highway, laughing like a lunatic, bouncing dangerously in your seat, trying to “keep it between the fence posts,” as my Dad useta say.
And seeing as the EP sez right on it “Pay no more than $11,” yer getting a “cheapee” CD you can let run on repeat a few times in a row, ride like a rollercoaster, hopefully without getting a speeding ticket or blowing your speakers in the process. Get this, duh.
(www.fatwreck.com)
