Customer Reviews

Coaster

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Marking their 25th Anniversary as a band, "Coaster" is the 11th release by punk rock legends NOFX. The title is a cheeky reference to the direction the music industry is taking where compact discs are becoming obsolete and not much good to many people except as something to rest your drink on.

I must admit I was excited at the beginning of this month when I found out that in addition to Anti-Flag, Rancid, Bob Dylan, Green Day and many other bands that I enjoy, NOFX would have a new album to kick this summer off. I rushed to the record store right after work and picked up my copy for a steal: $8.

Over the last couple of years and albums, NOFX has embraced their old age, alcoholism and "career" as a punk band and renderred songs on these subjects that range from hilarious ("60%," "Mattersville," "Theme From A NOFX Album") to bland ("Wolves In Wolves Clothing.") "Coaster" is no different, and fans will find few surprises within it's twelve tracks. "First Call" is a festive celebration of the morning after being no reason to stop the party, "Best God In Show" mocks the simple mentality of blind faith in religion, "The Agony Of Victory" is yet another send up of the band's ever-growing age; all firmiliar subjects, packed with a few new twists on the jokes.

As a complete product, the album is enjoyable, though not remarkable. The instrumentation is very good, as would be expected, the production is clear, though not slick (which is definitely on purpose, as the band thanks many early punk bands by name in the liner notes as inspiration over the years) and the songs are catchy without being too bubble gum-y. As far as NOFX albums go, it won't go down in history as ground breaking by anyone's standards, but I'm sure they didn't intend it to. NOFX has not been a band seeking to expand its audience beyond the core that's already on board, and so "Coaster" is not a failure at all, it is just another chapter in the story of an aging punk band.

A long-term NOFX fan since the mid-1990s, I started to lose interest in the band when they released the lackluster So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes and the even worse Pump Up the Valium. By the time they had become a "political" band, I had given up hope. Years went by. A friend of mine, another long-term fan, bought me Coaster and swore I'd love it. He was right.
Coaster starts with a dialog sample, which is a little too 1990s-punk-rock-cliché of a move for me, but at least they chose the sample wisely. It's a dialog excerpt from David Mamet's film Glengarry Glen Ross. The fast-paced "We Called It America" then kicks in, and Fat Mike's mumbly, rambling melody makes a nice juxtaposition over the frantic music. It's catchy, fast, and the guitar work is truly top-notch.
Track two, "The Quitter," employs the classic NOFX vocal harmonies we've all come to love (along with the alcoholism references we've gotten tired of and then grown to love again), and it's in and out before it becomes mundane. Track three, "First Call," is not anything special, but sounds like "single" material and bounces along like a NOFX pop song from the Heavy Petting Zoo era.
The real standout, at least in terms of NOFX breaking new ground, is the introspective "My Orphan Year." Fat Mike divulges key details about his parents' lives and deaths in a certain order that makes for great storytelling. He avoided visiting his ailing father, who ended up dying alone. Just when the listener thinks, "wow, that's cruel," Fat Mike explains how he "nursed and held" his mother as she battled cancer. Now that the listener is wondering why Fat Mike treated his parents differently leading up to their demise, he finally comes out and explains that his mother raised him alone and that his father was hardly ever there for him. The details make it much more poetic than a synopsis like this could do, and the hard-hitting, yet vulnerable, music somehow makes it all even more poignant. Look on Youtube for "My Orphan Year Acoustic" and see how many commenters admit to crying. Once again, this is new ground for NOFX.
The album also includes the blistering "Bruce, Eddie, and Paul," as well as the smarmy "Best God In Show," both standouts as well. There is not a bad song on this album, and the typical track is great.

When I pop in a new NOFX album, I don't expect much, just more of the same. Such as on "Wolves In Wolves Clothing." After a few listens to "Coaster," I actually find the balance to be well suited for the length. Thankfully, they gave us 12 songs and not extra filler tracks. I find the lyrics to be funny in one way or another. Funny in the way of a comedy, and also funny in a mocking sort of way- I find Fat Mike to be a bad choice to take your politics from, however he was probably a stepping stone to more serious issues for many people, which I have to give him credit for. Nevertheless many of the songs are super catchy and "Coaster" is actually in my top NOFX albums, either no. 3 or 4, which means it's definitely worth checking out.

And by "it" I mean they put out another mediocre album. It's been three years since Wolves came out, which was mediocre, and here it's easy to tell that they probably spent two and a half years writing absolutely nothing and then threw this together. It follows the same formula as most NOFX; it opens with a bang, laying down some fist pumping rock tunes on songs like "We Called it America" and "The Quitter" but after that it all falls apart into slow tempoed reggae-ska beats with over the top lyrics. NOFX are best when they are bashing the government or organized religion, and of course they do that here on songs like "Blasphemy" but when they're singing about how much Fat Mike loves lesbians I kinda get turned off to the music because the whole premises is overwhelming and sometimes annoying. As far as music goes, it's pretty well put together, with Eric and Heffe throwing some slick guitar and Mike doing a nice bass riff here and there. This album would be a lot better if it was faster and the lyrics were more inspired. Not saying this is absolutely awful, it's up to par with their latest releases since "Pump Up the Valuum" but it's just not something that's going to blow your mind seven times over.

Even as a relatively new NOFX fan, it didn't take me long to realize that this band, this seminal, hard-rockin', high-energy, STELLAR punk-rock band, has at least one boring song for about every three songs that are quite superior to any other, ahem, "punk" out there today. (For instance, listen to Green Day's best "punk rock" effort; such as the song "American Idiot", and then listen to the first track on Wolves ["60%"] and tell me who the real punk band is!)

That said, due to their tendency to include "throwaway" tunes on official releases (while being "punk-attitude" appropriate), can also be quite frustrating (for me). When I wanna hear tunes that rock and am met instead with watered-down tracks like "Getting High On the Downlow" (from the cd "Wolves in Wolves' Clothing"), it can be a letdown.

But, these people who are saying that this new cd "Coaster" needs a few listens, apparently are not on the same wavelength as me. (And that's fine. They're NOT me!) It's just that, when I threw this cd into my car while driving down the highway, sunny day, windows down, and was bombarded by the Pounding, Crazy-Heavy, Rockin'-Fast track that is "We Called It America", I knew my $9(!) was well-spent! This cd is SUPERIOR to any other catchy-punk-style cds that I've ever heard!

Give it a try. I highly recommend it.

WOW! This album knocks Wolves in Wolves Clothing OUT OF THE PARK.

The old-school punk-rockers from California have done it again. The songs are clever, witty, politically charged and outright fun. The rythims and hooks are really catchy too. If you enjoyed War or Errorism, I think you will love this one. I salute one of the last truly amazing, long lasting punks bands--NOFX. Thank you for being yourselves and saying what your hearts feel.

This is a great album. A friend had given it to me, but as pre-usual I didn't listen to it. It wasn't till I was in a bar and heard this album playing that I realized how good it was. I went home and listened to it and put it on my mp3 player immediately! The one before 'Wolves in Wolves clothes' wasn't as good which was probably why I didn't take this album so seriously at first. NOFX has always been the reigning kings of Punk for me and this album if nothing else proves they still have it!

This album starts strong, and has a few gems in there (First Call, Coasters), but overall is far from the best NOFX album in a while. I got They've Actually Gotten Worse Live at the same time and ended up playing that a ton more than Coaster. Maybe it will grow on me, but Wolves was in solid rotation on my iPod for months before I got tired and started skipping songs... Can't say the same here.

Not the best NOFX album (I'd go for "Punk in Drublic" and "So Long..."), but it's pretty good and definitively much better than their previous album "Wolves...".

Nofx are the best punk band to ever live! coaster is great I love the whole coaster theme it's very nofx. Good to have them back, I hope Nofx never stop so long as they're alive. Every album and song they have (since EL Hefe joined) is great and brilliant in it's own way. I don't think it's possible for Fat Mike to write a bad song unless he really tries (like surfer) and even then it's probably still cool in some way.
All I can say is it's NOFX if your down then you'll be glad you bought this cd and right in time for summer. It has some great skaish summer jams, funny dumb/songs (Creeping out Sara) and some massive rockers (Bruce, Eddie and Paul, We Called it America etc..). Check it out!