NOFX
First Ditch Effort
(Fat Wreck Chords)
Ahhh NOFX, I remember them singing about feeling old when they were just over 30 on the 2000 Epitaph release Pump Up The Valuum. At this year’s Chicago Riot Fest, the lyrics were adjusted to address that Fat Mike is the final band member approaching 50. If I learned anything from Prevention Magazine though, it’s that age is just a number. Few punk bands know this better than the prolific NOFX (this is their 13th studio album). With First Ditch Effort, it doesn’t sound like we’ll be rid of NOFX anytime soon. Donning satin for the nightcap of their second half-century doesn’t mean bedtime, it means party time.
This album has been hotly anticipated as the accompaniment to The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories; their autobiography released last April. The book told truths that would make Behind the Music stars blush, and these new tracks unfold in similarly. First Ditch Effort has a narrative of the captain acknowledging turbulent waters (which are booze) and veering towards a massive iceberg (which is made of pills) … in a snowstorm (cocaine). All of this internal exposure plays out like an open diary.
Unraveling strained patriarchs, “Happy Father’s Day” jumps in profoundly on the front end. A bending down tempo bass line unlike any other NOFX song opens the track with curiosity, as if trying to find the right words. By the 30-second mark drummer Erik “Smelly” Sandin bursts into full throttle to hit the breakneck pace that guitarists Eric Melvin and El Hefe began seconds prior. Tension rises, and the choice sentiment is found. Mike yells, “Fuck you Paul Burkett, I’m glad that you are dead.” “Orphan Year” shared that Mike lost both parents in 2006, and the book revealed more about his dad’s absentee parenting. Through the process of retracing those memories and becoming a father all his own, he’s rightfully pissed. “I changed my name to make sure that your surname won’t live on. When I’m dead our family history will be gone,” the angst continues. It’s a brief song, but confronts powerful feelings of betrayal without wasting a second.
“California Drought” acknowledges a need to become one with nature. If the landscape of the Western states is faced with developing desert conditions, then too, man must become dry. It’s a holistic approach, a transcendent ideal, and a humanist sympathy. Or just time to sober up. The tempo and harmonies resemble 2006’s “USA Holes” but interject a 25 second drum and horn solo. A drifting guitar on pedal effects looms in the background. The segment feels like a perfect moment for introspection about what has been said. It’s another one of my favorite parts of the album. As NOFX have a signature sound that drives me (happy) crazy and just feel good, they are musicians whether they’ll admit it or not. They love to explore new instruments and rhythms, and this album is chalk full of new treats.
NOFX are at their best when confronting demons and exposing cracks in America’s fault lines. “Oxymoronic” is a salacious slice of snark, Mike at his finest. The pharmaceutical industry is a joke today, taking advantage of anyone they can. Doctors overprescribe to receive bonuses and free trips to tropical islands. The bass in this track buzzes slow and low through most of the track. Dabbling quietly behind everything, it’s as if the bass line is getting by on a heavy dose of oxycontin. When this track debuted on Funny Or Die with a music video a few weeks back, my cousin felt it was a bit like Weird Al Yankovich. Sure it uses pun after pun to tell the story of rampant drug sales, but the humor works to raise awareness. I’m glad someone is calling it out, it’s a fucked up racket.
With NOFX spread across California, they don’t spend every day together. It doesn’t seem that they’re super close when off the recording/touring cycle. Differences aside, they’ve been able to maintain the same lineup for 25 years. Metallica went through a band intervention in the early 2000s and turned it into a documentary. The metal legends dropped egos and rode horses to extinguish their demons between each other. The albums that followed were not the finest. From a listener standpoint, it seems that the NOFX book brought the band closer. First Ditch Effort is a fresh take for them with a range of influences and instrumentation. There’s even some lovely a cappella on “Dead Beat Mom.” They are born again, but not in a scary way. Sparing cheeky tracks this is a serious (ly great) listen; the lyrics are at the most virile and vitriolic ever.
Purchase First Ditch Effort here.
