It's Halloween once again. A holiday of mass consumerism which could only have come from America-land. While you're gorging on cheap horror movies, soda, and chocolate, you may as well do something good for you're health...such as listening to the heavenly, or hellish may be more appropriate, sounds of The Misfits.
Well, i say that with slight sarcasm relating to this particular release. Monster Mash was the first time Jerry Only took lead vocals. And while he works well here, the full-length records he has done are horrendous, and not in a good way.
Anyway, I've put the 1997 single version as well as the superior Project 1950 cut and tagged them as Monster Mashed.Enjoy, you fiends.
The new NOFX CD/record whatever the fuck you've bought it on, is the 13th release (so satanic) by these Southern Californian punk rock legends. And I for one, think it's fucking killer.
But then again, I am biased. NOFX were 'that' band for me. They opened up the door to punk rock and I never walked back out. For those who are oblivious to this band, NOFX started out as an endearingly cruddy Mystic Records style punk band, that then started to slightly crossover, but then (in an unexpected turn) became the household name for 90s melodic punk rock. Okay, maybe 'household' isn't the best term.....Green Day or The Offspring would be more accurate in that case. But still, NOFX were (and i'd argue, are) a defining 90s/00s punk band.
As a fan, the release of their book The Hepatitis Bathtub and other Stories got me absolutly stoked. Real good read by the way. But when this record was announced for a 7th October release, I was seriously. fucking. excited. The first teaser of the new material was Six Years On Dope, which was released as a lyric video. And i've got to admit...i wasn't too keen at first (Melvin's 'yeeeeah' seems real out of place). But after another few listens I couldn't get the song out of my head. In similar fashion, I Don't Like Me Anymore confused me on first listen. But after another listen, it was apparent this album was going to be fucking awesome...if a bit of a grower. Finally, Oxy Moronic came out with a sparkly music video...and surprise, surprise, I didn't think much to it. It sounded a bit too new-wavey, a bit limp wristed. But, and I know you know where this is going, I ended up really liking it. Not as good as the previously released tracks, but still good ol' NOFX.
Now, I know this isn't very informative, so i'll just get into it. This record is a bit of a grower, but that's because it's noticeably more diverse than previous efforts. California Drought, I'm A Transvest-Lite, Ditch Effort, It Ain't Lonely At The Bottom, are classic NOFX. Short, funny, catchy. If you're a fan, you'll love these tracks. The real difference comes with tracks like I Don't Like Me Anymore and I'm So Sorry, Tony. Straight off the bat, just the titles indicate a new lyrical (and musical) direction. Lyrically, Fat Mike has really opened up. I loved My Orphan Year from Coaster, and these tracks in particular show some bittersweet, sadly funny, and truly hard-hitting lyrics. In order to do the words justice, the music needs to take a more serious tone. In comes the pianos, and some chord progressions and melodies that you wouldn't initially connect with NOFX.
I'm So Sorry, Tony is possibly the best representation of what im getting at:
"Sometimes on weekends, when our kids hang out together, Kiera tells Darla that her dad's songs are better. And I think she's sad, cause tomorrow she hopes her dad, will be coming home, cause he told her that 3 years ago on the phone"
"All the endless nights we had, the 20 years of laughs, I've looked, but I can't find any photographs
Of us, because it's weird to take photos with your best friends, Cause you don't think that you'll never see them again"
However, there are a couple tracks here that initially threw me off on first listen.
1: Happy Father's Day
The intro is sorta Texas Is The Reason-ish, not NOFX'y at all. But when the actual song hits, it's a hardcore fueled melodic punk track with venomous lyrics directed at Fat Mike's father. Now that i've listened to it a lot, I really like that intro.
"Fuck you Paul Burkett, I'm glad that you are dead. You weren't a father or a parent, more of an acquaintance than a friend"
2: Sid and Nancy
Very different to the 7" version (Same goes for Generation Z) This track is so classic NOFX...until
around a minute and a half in where some lame 'post-rock' style guitar begins. Personally, if you're not Godspeed You, Black Emperor, put away your fucking delay and reverb pedals. Seriously, Hefe could have ripped out some smooth jazzy licks...but we get this instead. Good job the song is so fucking catchy.
Like many of NOFX's post millennium albums, they ingeniously mix pop melodies, hardcore thrashing, snotty punk rock attitude, and fantastic song writing, all tied together with truly great musicianship. And yes, i did just say that.
I don't like rating records because it's always so subject to changing. But fuck it, 10/10. It's a grower. But it's well worth it for fans. If you never liked NOFX this record probably wont convert you. But if you want to take a punt on a beautifully open and heartfelt melodic punk record, get this.
Highlights: It's Not Lonely At The Bottom, I Don't Like Me Anymore, I'm A Transvest-lite, I'm So Sorry Tony, Six Years On Dope, Sid and Nancy, Happy Father's Day
Fuck it. They're all highlights. Get this fucking album, you rats.
I'm just gonna say it. Nora are fucking ace and you should feel bad for not knowing about them. So who the fuck are Nora and why do they have an old-ass womans name?
Well, little jimmy. According to Wikipedia "Nora is a metalcore band from Highland Park, New Jersey." Lovely, and very insightful. To give you a better idea, they were signed to Trustkill during the late 90s, that means Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through, fuckin' THROWDOWN, Poison The Well, Shai Hulud, and Brothers Keeper were label mates.What you can take from this is that they're a legit hardcore band from a time where this type of music had a relative amount of success. In addition to this, vocalist, Carl Severson, owned and run the formidable Ferret Music. Which released records by the likes of skycamefalling, Disembodied, Stretch Arm Strong, Funeral For A Friend, Killswitch Engage, From Autumn To Ashes, among others, and released Converge's best record Petitioning The Empty Sky.
Why they chose their name on the other hand, beats me. Well, it did beat me until I searched the interwebs, apparently they're named after Nora Diniro,a character from the film Pump Up The Volume.
Now, I really like this band. And Loser's Intuition is a fucking ripper. It has a real sludgy, hard rocking edge to some of the riffing. And while that may sound like a fucking horrible combo when paired with 90s hardcore, the result is monstrous (think Coalesce, DEP, and Hatebreed beating each other to death). The two guitar approach allows for some chunky riffing, harmonised weird ass riffs, and those cool diminished chords (dem parts that sound hella nasty). When compared to other hardcore bands on Trustkill and Ferret, Nora stick to the shouty approach, with the occasonal Rollins-esque spoken monologues. Weird to think, but in 2001, the whole 'i'm shouty one minute, and now i'm tender and emotional the next' deal wasn't the done deal in hardcore.
While Nora may not be so active these days, and Ferret Music has signed a huge amount of shite since Carl handed the company over, we can all rejoice at the awesomeness of the early Nora material.
Adolf Christ are a malevolent force of fuck off. Forged in the flames of hell, Adolf Christ blaspheme incoherently about hell, death, and the edge. We live in hell, motherfuckers. - Adolf Hitler
The best demo of the year thus far. My home boys have come far! Crust Punk straight from the ghetto. We live in heaven, bothers. -Jesus Christ
Dispossession are from Norfolk, UK, although, to be specific, i'm pretty sure most of the guys are from Kings Lynn, a pretty shitty town in the South-east of the UK. They play a fairly inventive style of 90s Brutal Death Metal ala Dying Fetus, and Deathcore.
Fun fact: Norfolk has the largest concentration of Medieval churches, as well as inbreds, in the whole world.
Their four track self-titled EP came out in 2013, and from what i can tell, had a bit of a buzz about them. Whats rad about this EP is the mid-paced riffing, which permeates through all of the main riffs... as well as the monster slams, bruh. Can't forget dem' slams. Its like they're on a mission to put as many catchy riffs into each song as possible.
Since Dispossession are a bit cryptic in terms of where they fall genre-wise, they stand out from the pack. The riffs and slams (dat slam in 'Strangulate', sheeet son) makes them much more interesting than standard deathcore, but the breakdowns, albeit infrequent, can seem a bit forced, and take away from the death metal brutality.With that said, breakdowns, at least how metal bands play them, have never been 'my thing', bruh.
Their latest EP, 'Plagues', was released during the summer of 2014 and carries on in the same style, however, they have stepped up their game...
In terms of production, its a huge step up from the self titled. Truly a claustrophobic atmosphere, fo' sho. Obviously the guitar players, James and Aaron, have improved a good deal, experimenting with different riff styles as well as adding some lead shizznit. Unfortunately, the mid-paced riffing isn't as predominant, but, the brutal slams are still there. In fact, breakdowns take a backseat to the slams.
Such brutal, wow
Reviewing either of their EPs track-by-track would be seriously uninteresting to you readers because i'd just be repeating how 'rad' each riff is. What I will say is that Dispossession are a band to watch out for, bruh. And if you can catch them live, as I've yet to do as I progressively become more scouse by the minute, deffo do so.
Dispo's music is on their Bandcamp fo' free (or donation, if you're feeling generous) and they've still got some merch left which is pretty cheap, providing that you're from the UK. Also, check out dere Facebook while you're at it.
I thnk u shud get ur gran dis t-shrt, so she cn luk fashnuble and coo, bruh
Example: An actual fat kid running
The wonders of the modern age! After asking about on 'teh interwebz', I finally found someone who has the Fat Kid Running EP. Fat Kid Running were a Cali Skate Punk band, and while they were not ground-breaking, they write some great, catchy, poppy punk tunes.
There is something strange about certain genres having their own 'place' in time. Maybe i'm weird, well...okay, i am weird, but modern skate punk bands doesn't do much for me. However, for some reason, some no-name, obscure band from the early 00's pop-punk/skate boom interests me.
Anyway, this band is pretty cool. It's like NOFX and No Use For A Name got dumped by their hoe-ass-bish's, listened to Hopesfall, came to the conclusion that life isn't all fun and games and decided to start playing minor chords a lot more. Throughout the record you will hear 'Fat Wreck' drumming, morose melodies, octave chords, cool riffs that sometimes harmonize, 'serious'/sad clean guitars, and melodic-i suppose 'whiny' vocals.
If you're looking for a 'fun' sounding band, maybe give these guys a miss. While on their official page it seems silly and fun, their actual sound is relatively down-beat. With that said, there are some good up-beat moments as well, so it's not all mondo-depresso.
