Reviews

“If you think that punk rock doesn’t mix with politics, you’re wrong.”
 
Kyle’s recent review of the new Anti-Flag Record got me thinking. Is it possible to be both a form of entertainment as well as a means of social commentary and political activism? Furthermore, is the latter more effective when delivered in a form that is entertaining?  Do young people really want to devote their lives to fighting the good fight when there’s no comic relief in the end? Does anyone? This leads me to the band in question; NOFX.  The main ingredient to their success is not their political dissent but rather their sense of humor.  The world sucks, we got the memo; but it’s okay to laugh about that too.
 
I tried to figure out how many releases NOFX has put out but I lost count, so lets just say “Never Trust a Hippy” is one of many, many efforts by this band.  It’s an amazing feat when a band can release that many records and party that hard and still be alive let alone coherent enough to write new material.  I believe Fat Mike puts it best in “Everything in Moderation” when he says “Okay my liver is my senior part/But that’s the part you can trade in/When your band has been a band longer than The Ramones/And critics coin you “the punk rolling stones”/That’s when you know this is for life.”
 
It’s slightly bewildering how NOFX can still find different ways to bitch about politics and brag about how drunk they can get.  On the other hand, politics never get any better and beer never gets boring. Not to mention, the music manages to change and evolve over time so that rather than roll our eyes at another NOFX EP, we go out and buy it.  This particular 6-Song EP features “Seeing Double at the Triple Rock,” a punk rock song about drinking in Minnesota (of all places!) as well as the acoustic “You’re Wrong,” which is basically self explanatory.  Lyrics include “You’re wrong for hating queers and eating steers if you kill for the thrill of the hunt/You’re wrong ‘bout wearing fur and not hating Ann Coulter/You’re wrong if you don’t question your government/If you think her reproductive rights are inconsequent, you’re wrong/You’re wrong fighting Jihad/Your blind faith in god/Your religions are all flawed.”
 
In conclusion, because I’ve exceeded 400 words and lost your attention two paragraphs back, this is a solid release as per usual.  It’s still creative, still interesting and still thoughtful.  It still makes me laugh and it still makes me think.  Bill Stevenson is still a brilliant producer, Fat Mike’s liver is still functional. NOFX can still show us a good time and have a point at the same time.  Moral of the story: “Never Trust a Hippy.”