Pretty much my favorite thing ever is making fun of stuff I like, and I love punk. Yet at the same time, I also hate punk, for all the reasons you can guess. My love-hate relationship with punk is why I love nothing more than punk bands who make fun of punk: The Vandals, Guttermouth, and the kings of anti-punk, NOFX.
Since they’ve been around for over 25 years, there’s a lot to say about these guys, but I’m way too lazy for all that (and I’m sure it’s been documented elsewhere far better than I ever could). The only thing I want to add is that much like New Found Glory, Blink 182, Saves The Gay, Thursday, and other bands who are called “legends” today and worshipped by Tumblrbros, it was definitely NOT ok to like them in the 90s if you were into “real punk/hxc.” They played “corporate pop-punk for frat bros,” despite being one of the biggest DIY bands on the planet who were on one of the biggest DIY labels on the planet (Epitaph, at the time).
But I’ll save the history for all the 30+ punk nerds who got a masters in Library Science back in 2006 or so when MLSs were trendy. Instead, I’ll just share some of my favorite tracks and why they are awesome!
My favorite NOFX song, “Punk Guy.” Truly brilliant lyrics that manage to make fun of pretty much every subgenre of punk/hardcore (if you are under 30 and need the references explained, check here)- my favorite line is “Crazier than GG, yet more PC than Ian”
This is a song making fun of homeless people, which made the PC police very angry at the time– if you can imagine a nightmarish, dystopian reality in which the No Fun Club controls the world, that would be pretty close to the Bay Area in the mid 90s (the home base of NOFX, and “home” to more fucking bums than anywhere else in America)
The ironic part is most people in 2k11 won’t even get this brilliant parody- on the one hand I am glad nobody listens to Crass anymore because they are fucking awful, but on the other hand it sucks because there is so much good material there to make fun of
This is just a great pop punk song, and “So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes” is probably my favorite overall NOFX album?
The full title of this song is really “You’re Not Punk, and I’m Telling Tim,” with “Tim” being the editor of the No Fun Club newsletter Maxiumumrocknroll (a really shitty zine that was very popular with tr00 punx in the 90s- imagine Absolute Punk, only vegan… grose, right??). MRR hasn’t been relevant in ages, but this message is pretty timeless!
A strong argument can be made for NOFX being the original South Park, such as their 1994 song “Don’t Call Me White.” Keep in mind this came out at the height of the No Fun Club’s prominence.
“Murder The Government” is NOFX’s equivalent of The Vandals’ “Anarchyburger.” Basically, making fun of retarded, simplistic punk rock “politics” = never not funny.
Did this post remind you of skating in the parking lot behind Safeway in 8th grade? What is YOUR favorite NOFX song? Can you think of any other bands who have been around since 1984 but don’t suck?? Could Fat Mike make you cry??? Does this post make any sense to people under 30?????
I’m barely under 30 (29) and yeah it makes sense. They were one of my favorite bands from around 95-2001.
One time I got in trouble at school for wearing a “Punk in Drublic” shirt, teacher wanted to know what it meant, thought it was gang related? Can’t remember.
I lost interest in them once Fat Mike got all political. Not that I disagreed with all of his politics but I didn’t want serious stuff from NOFX.
“I lost interest in them once Fat Mike got all political”
Agreed. Also, it seemed like the more they sang about politics, the worse their songs got.
Pretty much my favorite band ever.
16 here. Makes sense. Most of the NOFX songs I know are on the Greatest Songs Ever Written comp, the others being from Coaster.
nofx is great, they seem generic now, but they basically fathered that style. soo influential. but i guess to kids nowadays, a band that was influential to a bunch of 90s music that they dont even listen to probably doesnt mean shit. but still, 90′s skate punk >>>
post 90′s nofx is really lame though. once they released “war on errorism” i was like fuck this.
nofx is kinda like the simpsons, started off in the 80s and wasnt very good, then started to get progressively better and really good in the 90s, then went downhill as fuck post-90′s
YES!!
To be honest though, Season 22 of The Simpsons was a surprising return to form, and I feel the same way about Coaster.
dude the simpsons have been funny again for at least 4 years now..
I prefer Propagandhi’s first album to anything NOFX ever put out. though I enjoy sarcasm as much as the next guy, I think overuse makes it a novelty that quickly wears off. NOFX don’t take it quite that far… but they are close. thankfully, they make it up by making really tight punk rock tracks. [note: admittedly, I haven't heard anything newer than So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes.]
“I prefer Propagandhi’s first album to anything NOFX ever put out.”
you have no idea how many times I heard No Fun Clubbers say this in the 90s
haha. I don’t know much about the no fun clubbers or the anti no fun clubbers for that matter, but I think Propagandhi’s first album is fantastic. I hate animal rights though…
Favorite line of theirs – though not their best – is from “Theme from a NOFX Album,” in which they make fun of themselves, and then make fun of themselves making fun of themselves, in which Fat Mike sings “My name is Fat Mike / I’m obsessed with big lesbians.” No idea why, but that just slays me every time.
NOFX are great. I still listen to them a lot.
Their political stuff isn’t that great, but The Decline is awesome.
“on the one hand I am glad nobody listens to Crass anymore because they are fucking awful, but on the other hand it sucks because there is so much good material there to make fun of”
Everyone got their crass tattoos covered by soulfly symbols.
I had that Crass/NOFX t-shirt 10-12 years ago. And yeah most of the time it seems to me like nobody listens to Crass anymore but then the Subhumans or some Leftover Crack-related band come to town and it’s b.o. and Crass buttflaps all over the place. BTW Crass is pretty much the most entertaining band of all time.
The NOFX fanbase goes from lil’ kids to mid-30s. They’ve done so many Warped Tours that they’re pretty much universal.
As a 30 year old, this post is completely relevant to my past interests. I used to rock NOFX all the time. Punk in Drublic is probably my favorite punk album. ‘The Decline’ might be have too serious for you, but I thought it was brilliant. Last album I listened to by them was ‘Wolves in Wolves Clothing’ which was entirely forgettable.
isn’t “it’s my job to keep punk rock elite” also about tim yo? 21 here…i think a lot of kids get into NOFX around 13 or 14, they’re a pretty perfect band for that age. that said, i only read MRR once and they didn’t cover any bands i cared about. i don’t really know who tim yo is, just that he was a PC dbag (i think?) and lots of peeps made fun of him.
I don’t think MRR covered bands ANYONE cared about- even when when i was at my peak in terms of being into obscure DIY punk bands I had no fucking clue who 90% of the bands in that zine were
Cool band requirements for MRR in 1995: “60s style garage punk from some shithole in the mid-west. Must be wearing bowling shirts”
as always, you are completely on point.
when I read this comment, I literally shook my head and muttered “fucking christ…” to myself
^troof!
when all the best pwrviolence was coming out in the mid/late 90s, mrr was dick-riding garage rock sooo hard. the only time i remember a good band on the cover was like 99 and it was spazz– when both chris and max wrote for the zine and proly threw it on there themselves. and then 2000 happened and they put spazz on the cover were all about hc punk (right after tim died) for the next 11 yrs. whateves
I read that MRR refused to review Still Life b/c emo was not trve punx. you know anything about this?
Sounds familiar, altho i dont remember specifically!
White Trash & Punk in Drublic were in constant rotation in my Dodge Laser my entire junior year of high school. I stopped paying attention after The War on Errorism, but still love their mid/late 90′s stuff.
“Hot Dog in a Hallway” is the most hilarious song considering how many fat chicks i smashed in the last 20 years.
S&M Airlines and Ribbed are my favorite. I know that isn’t a popular opinion being pre el hefe and full on goofy and all but I like them.
^this
thanks for this post! i think i saw them in 1990 or so, when i was about 14. s and m airlines and ribbed were in heavy rotation. i think the longest line 12 inch was the last thing i bought. for whatever it’s worth, this band, the mr. t experience and shitty bay area shit like op ivy, crimpshrine, blatz and filth shaped my view of punk music in my formative years! whoopee doo!
Filth/Blatz split. So bad. Im drunk
It really was! I saw them live at a VFW hall, not much better!
I too am a shade under 30, and love NOFX. I’d disagree about them not being liked by tr00 punx, at least where I grew up (suburbs of St. Louis). Even the grossest Crassholes showed up at their shows drunk and sang along to every word.
What I really like about them (beyond the fact that they could write a catchy song, the most important thing in any genre) is that while they were funny, they weren’t “wacky.” It wasn’t “white acoustic cover of hip-hop” humor, but just genuinely funny as well as being pointed.
Also, I owned that terrible Filth/Blatz split too.
i listened to them for some months when I was 14 and bough The war on errorism
ANYWAY I disagree strongly about NOFX being un-pc etc. read some gay interview wit fat mike on blabbermouth a year or two ago, where you could imagine him shaking with rage when he talkd about how avenged sevenfold were assholes for supporting bush and the war etc etc… then he went on to talk about NOFX and said how other bands were afraid to voice their opinion because they wanted to fit in, but NOFX was nothing like that… yeah nice said after taking a jab at a band for supporting an unpopular president, fool
Making fun of gang chants:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXkSNR5hH0s
My favorite song of theirs. I laughed so hard when I got out of middle school and actually learned what the lyrics meant besides the whole “anti-swastika tattoo” line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdqEbdglqhI
“Did this post remind you of skating in the parking lot behind Safeway in 8th grade?”
Yes… and I’m 23. You’re not as old as you think you are.
Ya, I always listened to them when I was younger, I am 25. Also, where I grew up, they were liked by troo punx so that’s weird.
i’m only 24 and this still reminds me of skateboarding in 8th grade.
Asking me to choose one song as my favorite by this band is probably the most unfair question you could ever ask me
did you by any chance happen to see that video of nofx on the warped tour in i wanna say 06 or 07 where fat mike was just fucking with all the christian bands during their bible study or something. im pretty sure theres some members of paramore and underoath in the background. cant remember if it was much funny or not.
all the new stuff is fucking amazing
I’m 30, listened to NOFX and countless other punk bands in my time and came to this conclusion a few years ago (this is opinion ofc, if you wanna like em go ahead)… NOFX, or more specifically, Mike Burkett is a complete cunt, their music, whilst maintaining some manner of musical brilliance all this time has slowly started to slide down hill, its got to the point now where If i listen to anything by them but ‘So long and thanks for all the shoes’ or ‘white trash’ it makes me angry that i ever discovered them in the first place… Fat Mike is so much of a self centered twat that it makes me sick I even started playing bass all those years ago because of him, the only redeeming moment i have is when i hear myself play and realise I’m fucking good… conclusion… Fuck Fat Mike in his blue haired arse hole.