Word: punks
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After more than a decade of transforming the humor of adolescent ennui and discontent into a panacea for pubescent rejects everywhere, the members of NOFX are without a doubt the pop punk veterans. Attempts at imitation have been numerous but always inevitably fail to achieve the essence that has made NOFX so successful--the band pulls off bratty infectiousness and addictive melodies without trying to impress anyone but themselves...
...NOFX's never unsatisfying punk evolution from hardcore hopefuls to High Priests of Pop Punk Rock, the comfortable lull has finally arrived with this new release. So Long treads no new musical territory--prepare to sit back and relax, don't wait to be jolted upright by anything exciting or surprising. Instead, happily settle into this boldly unexpansive album with its unwavering familiarity as it dips into mellow grooves and blasts out edgy numbers that have all been heard at some point. The end result is a dulling immediate satisfaction that never quite makes any sort of indelible impression...
Musically, the songs on So Long can basically be divided into two categories: brightly furious power chord attacks and funkier, brass-laden ska-themed tunes. Usually the band offers a more varied collection, such as with the two previous releases. Heavy Petting Zoo and Punk In Drublic, but not this time around. As for lyrics, traditional NOFX fare can be expected--pointless nuggets of comedy taken from lead singer Fat Mike's crazy world and critical mini-harangues that fit within the confines of the under-one-and-a-half-minute rock song. The topics have become expected and patterned...
...second love ramble, suffused with unadulterated joy for a most unusual girl ("I take her to the seaside where she likes to spin and twirl/She says sure and cool and yeah/She's my monosyllabic girl"). On a more critical note, the scathing, frenetic "It's My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite" opens So Long with fiery skate punk underground attack on corporate A&R sharks, summed up in the song's closing dictate, "This music ain't your fuckin' industry...
Iovine often sees hits where others see only whiffs. In early 1991 he heard a tape by a scuffling California punk-ska band called No Doubt. The band had been struggling since the late 1980s with little to show for it. Iovine recognized that No Doubt's alternative pop sound offered a fresh twist on rock, and that singer Gwen Stefani had star power. "All the pieces fit together, even if the music wasn't that far advanced," he says. "We felt they could be big, with a little work and grooming." Iovine and Interscope president Tom Whalley sharpened...