{"id":5615,"date":"2021-03-03T14:33:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T14:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=5615"},"modified":"2021-03-03T15:02:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T15:02:58","slug":"nofx-show-with-latest-record-single-album-that-old-dogs-can-learn-new-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=5615","title":{"rendered":"NOFX show with latest record Single Album that old dogs can learn new tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALBUM REVIEW: NOFX – Single Album (Fat Wreck Chords)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Fourteen studio albums into their career, Californian punks NOFX <\/a><\/strong>aren’t about to undergo any sort of epiphany and change the way they sound or what they do, right? Well, wrong, actually<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their first album in nearly five years sees them slow down, tone down the messing about, get all serious, and sound all the better for it. They’re living proof that maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The catalyst for this hasn’t been the year-long pandemic and lockdown, rather the realisation by bass-playing frontman Fat Mike that we only get one journey on this lump of rock, so you might as well make it last as long as possible, and enjoy it while you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike, who owns and runs the Fat Wreck Chords<\/strong><\/a> label, is one of three mainstays of NOFX, who formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983, and have come to epitomise the SoCal skatepunk sound. The others are guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik ‘Smelly’ Sandin. The long-time line-up is completed by guitarist\/trumpeter El Hefe, who marks 30 years in the band this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They have sold more than eight million records, making them one of the most successful independent bands of all time, so they must have been doing something right. They’re known for their sarcastic sense of humour, but is it too much of a leap to say they’ve grown up at last?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the songs here certainly suggest so. Single Album<\/strong> started life as a double album, but was pared down to 10 tracks, and they’re all-killer, no-filler, even if some of them are far removed from NOFX’s usual hook-laden punk rock template. Many of the songs are extremely personal, and listening to them is almost like listening in to a rehab session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opener The Big Drag<\/strong>, for starters, is more post-hardcore than pacy SoCal punk. At nearly six minutes long, it sees Mike in self-examination mode, and determined to make the most of life, even when it sucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birmingham <\/strong>sees the unpredictable frontman coming to terms with the realisation he was a drug addict, and that it was time to get clean. He entered rehab in the fall of 2020 and has been sober since. The fact the band haven’t been able to hit the road probably helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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