Customer Reviews

Wolves in Wolves Clothing

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I remember being in high school, loving NoFX's most recent release So Long and Thanks for all the Shoes. I mentioned it to some older kids who were wearing Blink-182 T-shirts. They sort of snortled and said that NoFX hadn't come out with a good one since Punk in Drublic.
And now they keep coming out with new albums. And now, though I'm sort of tired of their new albums, and none of them have the catchiness or memorability of their old ones, I try really hard to respect the fact that they are still going. And the music does grow on me over time. It has on their last couple of albums.
With that said, this is just more NoFX. The songs are different but the feel is the same. Every once in a while they mix it up, but sort of in a predictable way. Like the last few albums, the songs seem to have been written over the last year and a half. They have their usual clever wit. The same decent but standard production (with the recent flair of having a couple of purposefully badly recorded songs, just for the sake of it). The same cocky fun with a subversive but obvious political slant. It seems to be getting old.
And that's the conundrum bands face. Every aging band has to make an important choice, either to change and piss off the loyal fanbase, or stay true to their sound and get stale. People who liked Metallica's early work hate their recent work. On the other hand, how many times did AC/DC record the same crap over and over again?
There are some melodies on Wolves that I can hum along to. And after enough listens, I'll have the words in my head. And then one day I'll find myself humming a song or two, and I'll go back and listen to it. And that's good. Because in the end, it's just more NoFX, and that's really not all that bad of a thing.
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EDIT: almost a month after posting all this, I've come to consider this NoFX album a classic. It's pretty much on par with So Long and Thanks For All the Shoes. Good work, NoFX.

This cd starts out as a great punk cd! Halfway through, it becomes disjointed and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I recommend this for only diehard, hard-core (no pun intended!) NOFX fans......but, as an intro to the group, i'd recommend Punk In Drublic or Heavy Petting Zoo.

I must say that I didn't have high hopes for this album, considering the slather of reviews that appeared here. Some reviews of praise and derision were both equally uninteresting, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was in part due to a really mediocre album. I mean, you would think that a really sharp album would at least tick people off enough to write something interesting in their rage, wouldn't you?

But no. Instead, there was a lot of accusations of selling out and not knowing what punk is, and people brandishing their NOFX resumes (how many albums they own, how long they've loved NOFX, how they're going to see them, etc.), which made me wonder if NOFX were just toting along the punk equilvalent of mullet-headed, sentimental wannabes and wide-eyed kids who didn't know that time has a habit of passing.

Now, I would by no means call this one of the best NOFX albums out there, and I find others much more exciting, and in another mood I would probably rate this a 3, but my level of surprise at seeing how inventive and unsentimental NOFX still is, despite the efforts of certain fans and detractors, definitely convinced me to bump this up to 4 stars.

What is punk, what isn't--these are silly arguments. All it comes down to is the originality of the music--is there a sense of true play here, of reinvention, of moving forward? I think this album has a lot of this at its best moments, though I must admit that I was less impressed by a lot of the short songs. What a difference a minute makes! Short of "Instant Crassic," which was quite intentionally a one-joke pony (as part of the satire), a lot of the shorter songs on this disc felt like single ideas that could have gone farther, for indeed these guys have the experience to see an idea through towards something totally original.

That's why I found "Leaving Jesusland" one of my favorite songs on this disc. Do I agree with the sentiments of the song? Not completely, but that's not what makes a song good. Some of the reviews listed on this site accuse NOFX of being rather stupid with their social commentary. Ultimately, I think one of the butts of their humor IS oversimplification, the tendency to want to lash out at something, of which they are guilty, and they know it. How can anyone listen to "Leaving Jesusland" and continue to think that these guys are unwavering on their love of Cali and hatred of the south and midwest when they'll cry out in "Doornails":

This bowl is for my mom, for drinking more than I did
For posting bail for me in New York
And in Hollywood that first time,
And that joint we smoked was the worst time
Cuz doing drugs with parents is just wrong.

NOFX not only goes on the attack against fakery ("The Marxist Brothers," "One Celled Creature") and politics and 'culture warriors' ("USA-holes," "The Man I Killed," "100 Times F*ckeder"), but the ultimate finger-pointing is also directed at themselves, for trying their best but knowing they're also human and share some of the foibles that they point out in others.

For the best songs, check the time index--if it's over 2 minutes, you have a better shot. It's a shame, really, because NOFX have shown in the past that they are good at short songs, but this time...not so good.

So stop trying to prove to the world that you are punk or not--just listen and see if you like it or not.

I was totally surprised when i first heard Wolves In Wolves' Clothing because i thought it would be like Errorism... mostly fast paced punk like they've always done but with poppier vox. Well, the vox are definately poppier but most of the songs are mellower as well. This is not a bad thing because they mix them in well with the faster punkier songs and it creates a nicely put together album. The best song is definately The Man I Killed which is a classic punk/ska song and it has fast parts and slower parts mixed together perfectly. The best fast song is Seeing Double At The Triple Rock which is just them doing what they've always done well. The best mellow song is Doornails which is a ballad to fallen punk soldiers such as Jimmy from Strung Out and Jason from Pennywise.. even legend Brad of Sublime has an acknowledgement. Other favorites of mine are 60%, USA-holes, Getting High On The Down Low, Cool And Unusual Punishment, 100 Times F*ckeder, and the 60& Reprise. This album should appeal to people of all genres and it shows these punk legends keeping it up for over 2 decades.

To start, I honestly don't think that I've ever liked a NOFX album from start to finish after only one listen; they generally have to grow on me. For example, I hated "The War on Errorism" when I first heard it, and now it's one of my favorites. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this album definitely has potential, but honestly, I'm a bit disappointed: After I heard "Seeing Double..." off "Never Trust a Hippy" I was totally looking forward to a really rockin' album, but that's not really the case. Don't get me wrong, there are some heavy hitting songs (USA-Holes, Seeing Double..., 100 Times F*ckeder), but the album is also plagued by softer acoustic ballads with only a bit of distortion added in the middle and/or the end for good measure (60%, Wolves in Wolves' Clothing, Doornails). Fortunately, there are several hybrid tunes that incorporate both soft and furious melodies that help balance things out (We March to..., The Man I Killed, Benny Got Blowed Up, Leaving Jesusland, Getting High...). Despite the album being dominated by generally good music, there are a couple of steamers in the jam pool that just come off as random and almost lame (Cool and Unusual Punishment, Cantado en Espanol, Instant Classic). The songs are also super short, with the shortest being only 0:34 and the longest being 2:54, but short songs are something that I should be used to when dealing with these guys. One major highlight of the album can be found on "Doornails" in which Fat Mike throws out a salute to some of punk's fallen heroes, one of them being Bradley Nowell. Overall, there are some downfalls, but for the most part this isn't a bad piece of work...not their best, but definitely not their worst.

I must say, this album really blew me away. even though I am a NOFX fan, I thought their last 2 albums were not up to par (gently speaking) so I thought that albums such as "so long and thanks..." would not be matched any more - what a shame.

And then came "Wolves in Wolves' Clothing". the only way to describe this album is - 'a frea%$^&* master piece', it hold everything a punk rock fan needs. great sound, great music, great lyrics all in the NOFX style we all learned to love.

track 19 of the album provides an insight to NOFX's song writing process - its just great. you can even listen to drafts that did not make it to the album that you can just tell those songs would have been great ones.

On the whole this is a better record than their previous release 'The War on Errorism', but there is very little new or imaginative on display here. Don't get me wrong, it was still an enjoyable listen but i feel that NOFX are starting to lose their edge. The recurring theme of religion in the lyrics is nothing new. Bands like Bad Religion, Propagandhi and MDC do/did it better. I like the fact there are 18 songs on this record, seems kinda old school which is a good thing. The two stand out tracks in my opinion are 'The Marxist Brothers' and the title track. Overall, good not great.

Damn, I'm a huge Nofx fan! There's never been a Nofx album I didn't like. Until now. I didn't hate this album but I'm not feelin it that much. Some good songs here and there. Some bummers in my opinion. Maybe it could grow on me but that's usually not the way it is with them. If you're just getting into Nofx check out there older albums like Ribbed, white trash two heebs and a bean, punk in drublic, etc...

It's Good. I mean, it might not be as memorable of some of their older stuff. But sit on it for a bit. The lyrics are fun as usual, there are some awesome guitar riffs as well. Just like all of their albums, they are just fun to play and listen to. So many haters on here. It is a good album, even if it is not as good as some as the classics.

They started out as a punk band that I didn't really like too much. After Ribbed they became very good. Now with this album they have become, dare I say, great? This is the second transformation of the band.
If you look at NOFX's previous albums, they have a couple of really good songs. Then some that, even though they are good, I just can't listen to too much. Every song on WIWC is better than many songs on their previous albums. They don't have the rough distorted sound they used to, but rather a more polished, more melodic sound. I know people will be yelling 'they sold out', but how can you sell out with a song like 'Leaving Jesusland'? As a matter of fact, this song is one of those that I listen to over and over again and wait to get tired of it. Some bands mature like spoiled milk, others mature like NOFX. And although I am so sick of Bush bashing (not that I like him, but just sick of hearing it) NOFX does it in a way that is so original, so intelligent and fun too. I used to like Heavy Petting Zoo the best. Now its this. One of the final lines in the CD talks about them going out after their prime. To me, they just hit their prime. I would do anything to hear the end of Instant Crassic!