Spring Break
REVIEW: NOFX offers more of the same on 'Coaster'
3 out of 5 stars
Travis Moore
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Focus
NOFX has repeatedly pledged to never abandon its roots for the sake of popularity, and for a punk band that's been around since 1983, it has been doing a pretty respectable job of keeping that pledge.
But after 26 years and dozens of albums, NOFX promising more of the same is not so much an honorable nod to the fans as it is a disinterested shrug to the challenge of innovation. "Coaster" is a decently executed, but overall limp offering of forced L.A. punk-inspired grit, scraping just enough spirit to keep itself chugging along.
After a token-badass movie line sample, courtesy of Alec Baldwin in "Glengarry Glenn Ross," "Coaster" brings us to the frontline of an assault on American disillusion in the generically cranky "We Called it America," a four-chord call to arms.
"Coaster" is supposed to be a return to the NOFX of yesteryear, but maintains a level of polish achieved with precise instrumentation rather than studio wizardry. Most arrangements are clear and rich without losing their signature buzz. In every other way, "Coaster" plays it familiarly, tediously safe. In addition to the stale writing and subject matter of the track list (drinking, daddy issues, war, more drinking,), singer Fat Mike sounds like he's having a tough time keeping up with the venomous flare of the music. You know something is wrong with a punk band when it deserves praise for not being winded at the end of a song; this is punk music, not your grandpa playing Wiffle Ball in the backyard.
All the same, if you're a fan of NOFX, "Coaster" will be a reminder why. Like a leisurely stroll through the old neighborhood, there's a definite comfort to be found in NOFX's iterative style. As long as you're all right with "Coaster" taking you down the same sordid avenues, to the same dank bars and anti-war protests you visited last time, then go ahead.
But after 26 years and dozens of albums, NOFX promising more of the same is not so much an honorable nod to the fans as it is a disinterested shrug to the challenge of innovation. "Coaster" is a decently executed, but overall limp offering of forced L.A. punk-inspired grit, scraping just enough spirit to keep itself chugging along.
After a token-badass movie line sample, courtesy of Alec Baldwin in "Glengarry Glenn Ross," "Coaster" brings us to the frontline of an assault on American disillusion in the generically cranky "We Called it America," a four-chord call to arms.
"Coaster" is supposed to be a return to the NOFX of yesteryear, but maintains a level of polish achieved with precise instrumentation rather than studio wizardry. Most arrangements are clear and rich without losing their signature buzz. In every other way, "Coaster" plays it familiarly, tediously safe. In addition to the stale writing and subject matter of the track list (drinking, daddy issues, war, more drinking,), singer Fat Mike sounds like he's having a tough time keeping up with the venomous flare of the music. You know something is wrong with a punk band when it deserves praise for not being winded at the end of a song; this is punk music, not your grandpa playing Wiffle Ball in the backyard.
All the same, if you're a fan of NOFX, "Coaster" will be a reminder why. Like a leisurely stroll through the old neighborhood, there's a definite comfort to be found in NOFX's iterative style. As long as you're all right with "Coaster" taking you down the same sordid avenues, to the same dank bars and anti-war protests you visited last time, then go ahead.
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