NOFX
Never Trust A Hippy (Fat)
by Scott Hefflon
Unless you like under a rock (and not a punk rock), you’re familiar with NOFX. When they started, they were horrible. They tried real hard, so people tried to be nice, but they really sucked. But like real punk rock, they persevered, even though they probably didn’t know the word at the time. They were funny, they make fun of shit – including themselves, and not to be ironic, to beat others to the punch – and while they were a band you really hoped kept their shirts on throughout the show, they got more fun to see live as they learned how to play.
NOFX spouts edgy politics and social commentary, from juvenile “fuck you” to clever turns of phrase both insightful and inciteful, and have for years. Like a lotta punk bands still going from the mid-’90s rebirth, NOFX got so freakin’ tight that the only thing still “punk sounding” about them is their sneering lyrics and the fact that Fat Mike still can’t sing worth a damn. He’s a madman on the bass, hell yeah, but still can’t carry a note for more than a couple beats. Difference is, he knows it, so he jokingly works around it, unlike emo singers, who sing as accurately as kids playing pin the tail on the donkey. Gotta respect Fat Mike for knowing he’s a lousy singer, going for that everyman feel, without all the showiness of the delusional drunk at the Kareoke machine you finally bum rush and drag out back of the bar to do to his face what he’s been doing to your ears all night.
Never Trust A Hippy is a six-song EP, the opening two tracks from the full-length Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing. EP-only track “You’re Wrong” is an easy stand-out, and acoustic strumming litany of things most American’s are wrong about. Coulda been a multi-CD set on the topic, but we’ll leave that to Jello Biafra, ya know? “You’re wrong if you celebrate Columbus Day, and you’re wrong if you think they’ll be a judgement day. If you’re a charter member of the NRA, you’re wrong.” You get the gist. Memorize this song, sing it loud with your friends at parties, and anyone who’s offended is an asshole and you shouldn’t be hanging out with them anyway. And as the song closes “you’re wrong, and you’ll probably never know,” is the case with most people whose heads are so far up their asses, it’s amazing they can reach up in there to shove more fast food in their mouthes.
Most of this bad boy was produced by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore (at Motoro Studios, not the Blasting Room), so it sounds great, too.
(www.fatwreck.com)
