NOFX
Half Album
(Punk Rock | Ska)
Label: Fat Wreck Chords
Format: (EP)
Release: 19.04.2024
It was a sad bittersweet end, when I suddenly lost my brain cancer friendFake A Wish Foundation
Fat Mike, Melvin, El Hefe and Smelly announced the dissolution of NOFX last year. This year (2024) they are on a worldwide farewell tour and will also play two shows in Vienna at the Arena on June 4th and June 5th. Now the cult punks are releasing a new EP called “Half Album” and five brand new songs.
NOFX open the EP with a very calm piano and Fat Mike’s raspy voice, providing a stark contrast.
„It was a sad bittersweet end, when I suddenly lost my brain cancer friend“, are the first words of the song “Fake A Wish Foundation,” and shortly afterwards an acoustic guitar plays. Smelly plays loosely on the drums and Mike grooves unusually smoothly with the bass. Musically, you could almost speak of chill-out rock if it weren’t for the crazy lyrics about brain cancer.
“I’m A Rat” was the first single from the new EP and NOFX are back in their element here. Now it’s time for your ears. Overdrive guitars in the linoleum style that we love, a bludgeoning punk drums and the decent tempo drive the song forward. In the bridge we hear an “Ahhh” chorus á la BAD RELIGION and at the end we actually hear the piano again. Fat Mike sings about his drug addiction and you don’t know whether to take it or not. But that has always been the charm of NOFX.
Who remembers Fat Mike’s alter-ego, Cokie the Clown? Yep, Fat Mike was traveling solo as a sad clown back then. One of his songs was “The Queen Is Dead” and the band took exactly this track and reinterpreted it together. Guitarist El Helfe begins to pick, sticking more to the original and briefly misleading us. After the first gentle tones, it starts again at full speed! An ode to the punk rock queen named Naja. A song between melancholy and fast rhythms and distorted guitars.
It continues with “The Humblest Man In The World” and rocking rhythms dominate this song. Hefe just lets some chords fade out and throws a blues-rock lick into the song from time to time and that definitely sounds awesome.
And with the last song “The Last Drag” the band ties in with a song from the past, namely “The Big Drag” from their 2021 work “Single Album”. The song was already great back then, and here comes the sequel. The name is program. Everything drags on, but that’s what makes it so exciting. Here too it gets rocky again and is reminiscent of the very cool, hard and at the same time groovy 2000s rock. Distorted voice, full chords on the overdrive guitars and a few licks and slides from El Helfe every now and then. Smelly’s drums also have a lot of reverb this time and drive the song forward. Here, too, it’s about withdrawal. But nothing more will be said at this point. In the middle of the song, NOFX move towards punk rock again and swing back and forth between rock and punk rhythms. In short: great mix.
For the first time, NOFX shows a rocking side across all songs, although the punk and silliness of this band is not neglected. Since this is the “Half Album”, maybe we can look forward to “The Other Half” or something like that. Whatever comes next, we are excited and can’t wait for the live shows.
Tracklist „Double Album“:
1. Fake A Wish Foundation
2. I’m A Rat
3. The Queen Is Dead
4. The Humblest Man In The World
5. The Last Drag
Total playing time: 14:03
Band-Links
NOFX – Half AlbumLineUp:”Fat” Mike Burkett (Bass, Lead Vocals)Aaron “El Hefe” Abeyta (Guitar, Backing Vocals)Eric Melvin (Guitar, Backing Vocals)Erik “Smelly” Sandin (Drums)7…Buy on Amazon{“@context”: “http://schema.org/”,
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