NOFX, Punk In Drublic
Power-punk bands like New Found Glory and Simple Plan, so hot on the radio and TV in the early part of the millennium, would be nowhere without incredibly prolific punk veterans NOFX. The Berkeley born, LA-based band refused to put their videos on MTV, instead flourishing in the underground as independent heroes. Punk in Drublic is NOFX's ninth full-length and commonly heralded by their fans as their masterpiece. The super-fast skate-punk tunes are loaded with punchy drumming that's heavy on the snare, and singer-bassist Fat Mike's voice is a bit high and nasal like a typical suburban kid — nothing incredibly affected or aggressive. It's an album full of mid-'90s classics like "The Cause" and "Don't Call Me White," a song about refusing to be lumped in with the average Joe meathead clowns. The band displays a sense of humor, notably on "The Brews," which celebrates a Jewish gang of "Orthodox, Hasidic, O.G. Ois" and "Jeff Wears Birkenstocks?" where Fat Mike deals with a hippie friend. But NOFX also has a strong political side on "A Perfect Government" and "Reeko" — the latter begins as a lackadaisical message to a friend that the party's over and flips mid-song to a scathing address to the president that the nation is in the dumps. Punk in Drublic is a punk-rock must-have.
