Reviews

Coaster

NOFX

Released: Apr 28, 2009
Label: Fat Wreck Chords
Reviewed by: William Jones
4 comments

NOFX gets into the “awesome first song” rut on its latest, Coaster. Following a great quote pulled from Glengarry Glen Ross, “We Called it America” bursts into a fantastic guitar solo. It is NOFX at its political best in terms of lyrics, and the music is a throwback to 1980s L.A. punk a la Bad Religion.

It is a brilliant opener – arguably one of the top 10 songs NOFX has written – and it's followed by another solid track in “The Quitter.” From there on out, Coaster is hit and miss.

Fat Mike launches two more attacks on the religious world with “Blasphemy (The Victimless Crime)” and “Best God in Show.” Both are witty tunes, but it’s hard not to feel like we’ve heard them before. Then there are the drinking and drugs songs in “First Call” and “I Am an Alcoholic.” Both are mildly amusing on the first few listens, mostly for their references and nonchalant approach to abusing substances, but again they feel a bit too familiar.

“Creeping Out Sara” is Mike’s account of making an ass out of himself in front of Sara, of Tegan and Sara fame. Again, funny on the first few listens but this ultimately continues the trend of lazy songwriting on Coaster. Then there is the flip-side, “Eddie, Bruce, and Paul,” a track that musically could have been a great punk song, but the lyrics hold absolutely no interest.

The album has its moments, though, such as the personal “My Orphan Year,” a track about Mike dealing with the death of both of his parents in 2006, but each in a very different way. It is a soft side of NOFX rarely seen and resonates well with the listener for two reasons. A) It is a well written song with an early change of pace much needed on the album and a vulnerable side to the band. And B) The rest of Coaster just feels too damn familiar.

No one expects NOFX to drop their sound, the politics, drugs or blasphemy. These are the elements that make them NOFX, but somehow these components came together with much better results last few times around. Coaster has its moments, but in between those moments it commits the unfortunate crime of sometimes being boring.