5/14/09 – 21st Century Breakdown

Y’know how when you make a carbon copy of something, the copy comes out looking a lot like the original; but there is a pretty substantial loss of quality?  That’s what Green Day’s latest album feels like to me.  Seems like they made a carbon copy of American Idiot.  There are a couple standout tracks (“East Jesus Nowhere” and the Hives-ish “Horseshoes and Handgrenades”) but otherwise most of it is sadly forgettable.

5/11/09 – Coaster

If there’s one thing I can really count on in this world, it’s NOFX releasing albums that don’t stop kicking ass.  Sure, “Coaster” isn’t as full as vitriol as the last album, but Bush isn’t President anymore – not to say that they’ve axed the political slant altogether (see the first track, “We Called It America”).  I especially love the last track, a send-off of sorts to old technology (including CDs) called “One Million Coasters”.

2/6/09 – Folie A Deux

Much like the last few Fall Out Boy albums, this one was kinda *meh* on the first listen, but after a couple more listens I was hooked.  FOB are masters at tweaking their style just enough for each album to make it new and refreshing, but still keeping true to their roots.  Love the track with Patrick singing in the old blues style.  They really should stop letting Pete read his poetry, though.

2/3/09 – Heart Burns (EP)

I’ve long been a fan of Against Me!, so when my buddy Russ told me that the lead singer had an EP coming out… I had to make sure to find it.  Hardcore fans might write this EP off, as it strays away from the punk sound AM! is known for, and most of it is acoustic… almost folky.  Every song is great though (my favorite being “Anna Is A Stool Pigeon”) and my only complaint is that it’s not an LP instead.

1/27/09 – Japanese Motors

I just kind of happened upon Japanese Motors one night while watching MTV-U – it caught my ear enough to wake me up from my almost-slumber.  They describe themselves as “too hippy to be punk, but too punk to be hippy”, and that mindset comes off the album sounding like surf-punk (as reimagined by The Strokes).  I could see myself listening to this while cruising the highway with the top down.

Day 7: NOFX – Punk In Drublic

Here I am, done with one week.  Seems like forever… heh.  I figured I would take a break from the new music for one day to try writing a review on an old album.  Actually – I think I’ll make it a weekly thing.  So today, one of my favorite albums of all time – one that I think was vital in forming who I was as a teenager: NOFX’s Punk In Drublic.

Just for a little background – when I was in high school, NOFX was punk.  I mean sure, I listened to a lot of other punk bands, but in my mind NOFX was the end-all, be-all.  They’d been my first “real” foray into the genre, and are still my favorite punk band to this day.  NOFX was the soundtrack to everything – road-tripping, late night skate sessions, illegal activities, chilling out alone in my room, playing video games – hell, I think I might’ve even had some awkward teenage makeout sessions to NOFX tunes.

From the starting notes of “Linoleum”, all the way through to the end of “Scavenger Type”, every song hit me in a way I’d never heard before when I was that age.  “Lineoleum” hit me especially hard – when you’re in a small-town high school where looks and name-brands make or break a kid (I suppose that could be any high school, really), it was refreshing to hear a song that voiced the anti-materialism mindset I’d come to hold close.  “The Cause” worked in two different ways, each kind of counterproductive of each other; it was always our rallying song when we were out being activists.  On the flipside, it was also used as kind of a dare for nights the gang was all out drinking.  (i.e. – “Dude, do this beer bong!  C’mon man, DO IT FOR THE CAUSE!”)  “Perfect Government” was my favorite song of the album for the longest time, and really hasn’t lost its relevance in the 14 years the song has been around – “How did the cat get so fat?” is a question most Americans should really ask themselves even today.

Everyone who knows punk knows the song “The Brews”, Fat Mike’s homage to his heritage – and it really is probably one of the most fun punk songs ever; and probably punk’s most correct usage of shouting “Oi oi!”.  Nevermind that you almost need a Yiddish dictionary to really understand half of what Fat Mike is talking about.  “Lori Meyers” always got my teenage mind racing – what would happen if a female friend turned into a porn star later in life?  Hell, what if you came across any female you knew in a porn?  It’s an interesting question, and even better daydream material for a punk kid.  (Or for anyone, really.)  “The Happy Guy” may seem like filler to most – but I think it sums up my thoughts on religion almost perfectly.  Why harass anyone because of their religion, especially if they know full well what they’re getting themselves into; and more importantly, if it makes them happy?

Even today, firing up Punk In Drublic, I can still sing every damn word.  In a time where grunge dirges were all the rage, NOFX released a speed demon of an album that clocked in at just over a half-hour, and every single song was a killer.  Punk may be dead these days (and I’m definitely not getting into that argument ever again) but it lives on in my heart every time I listen to Punk In Drublic.  *cue sappy show-ending music*

Listen to “Linoleum”, “The Cause”, “Perfect Government”, “Lori Meyers”, “Happy Guy” and of course, “The Brews” for free here.