NOFX
45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough To Go On Our Other Records (Fat Wreck Chords)
By: Alex Steininger
Forty-six songs ranging from demos to outtakes to songs that made compilations and 7"'s, NOFX puts the majority of their non-album tracks on a 2-disc set so fans can hear it all. Though, being the smart-ass punkers they are, NOFX give collectors and die-hard fans a little treat. They keep a few 7" tracks and some demos (including a nine song demo that will never see the light of day) off the album so the masses don't have them, and the hardcore NOFX heads can still bask in the thought that they have material others don't.Disc one sounds like classic NOFX, fast, breakneck punk rock with a melodic sheen, bouncy and poppy, with Fat Mike's in-your-face humor and the band's pounding drive courtesy of the rhythm section.
Disc two is the real treat, as the band puts together some rough and tumble material that was written and recorded so fast, the band probably couldn't even play the songs after they recorded them without re-learning them. Sloppy and loose, the songs sound like classic punk rock, as youth and contempt drive the songs over musicianship.
This was what the band was going for, though, trying to re-capture the wild, craziness of punk rock, rather than offering up stale, produced pop songs with fast guitars and speed and passing it off as punk.
Fans of NOFX will salivate over these two discs, as each song, though not technically great, have their own charm and place in NOFX history. And, others are flat out some of the best NOFX material ever. I'll give this an A.
