Issue #95: NOFX – Punk in Drublic

Released:  July 19th, 1994

Recorded:  1993 – 1994

Genre:  Punk, Pop Punk

Record Label:  Epitaph

Duration:  39:54

Producers:  Ryan Greene, Fat Mike

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Punk in Drublic is One of My Favorites

For the umpteenth time, we’re back in 1994 looking a punk record.  Punk in Drublic was yet more proof of growing mainstream acceptance of the genre and a tendency for punk rockers to move in a more commercial sound, musically.  Like Stranger Than Fiction, I’m not sure I’d completely relegate this to pop punk status, though does lean in that direction.

Punk in Drublic has a lot of sounds that fans of pop punk would come to expect.  Extended palm-muting passages, adenoidal vocals, and catchy, rhythmic songs are all defining elements of the record.  If I’m being 100% honest, this album sounds a lot like a rawer, less polished version of Blink-182’s Dude Ranch from 1997.  The guitars are a little harsher, the beats are little more unforgiving, and there’s a less glossy feel to Fat Mike’s vocals, but there’s a similar sound running through both records.

I haven’t heard all of NOFX’s material (and there’s a ton of it between their studio albums and a multitude of EPs) but from what I have heard, there’s a good reason why Punk in Drublic has thus far been the height of their mainstream career.  Their early material veers towards melodic hardcore and is probably a bit too aggressive for popular audiences, and their later work essentially repeats Punk over and over again.  They are a rare example of a punk band who’s stuck with punk for their entire career – going on a whopping 30 years now – which isn’t a bad thing, but it doesn’t always make for an interesting perusal of their catalog.

But still, the guys deserve a great deal of credit for keeping at it so long, especially with their self-imposed limited exposure.  With infrequent interviews, refusal to allow their videos on MTV and VH1, and a general stance against popular music outlets, they’ve amassed quite a following.  Maybe I’ll give a listen to their most recent material someday, but as of right now, Punk in Drublic stands as their undisputed classic.  At 40 minutes it’s a quick listen, though the album’s 17 tracks can make it feel longer than it needs to be.  Some of them tend to blend together after about the halfway mark, but I won’t complain too much.  Punk has got that perfectly infectious sound that would propel this sort of music to the top, even for just a little while.

“Linoleum” could well be the blueprint for all pop punk to come.  It’s got desperate, whiny vocals, a blistering drum beat, and crashing guitars.  “Leave It Alone” features the loud-soft dynamic that would become almost standard in the genre, and “Dig” delves into ska briefly.  “My Heart is Yearning” branches out into ska more completely with the use of steel drums and a very different singing style.  “The Brews” is an amazing piece of anti-Oi! music, stylisticly imitating the racially charged Oi!-punk subgenre while clearly speaking out against such views (“sporting anti-swastika tattoos).  “The Quass” is an interesting piece musically, with the steady crunch of a guitar, the riffing of another, and the drone of yet another, but the guys never really do anything with it besides drawing out the words “the quass” a couple of times near the end.

“Lori Meyers” sounds a lot like a noisy Sublime song, particularly “Seed.”  “Jeff Wars Birkenstocks?” is another one of the album’s clearest examples of emerging pop punk mixed with a modicum of hardcore.  Fat Mike spits out the lyrics at blazing speeds, seemingly tripping over himself at times.  With the catchy tune and the urgent lead guitar, it’s a shame that we don’t even get a minute and a half of it.  “Reeko” is another ska inspired song, with some very mellow and relaxed lead guitar work going on that, again, sounds like Sublime…until it explodes into another bouncy punk piece.

There are plenty of tracks I didn’t go over, mostly because they have the identifiable “punk sound” laid out in the first few tracks.  This isn’t really a bad thing, but like I said, I wish they had cut off some running time, or perhaps combined some of the shorter tracks into longer, more focused pieces.  Several decent tracks near the end don’t even cross the 2 minute mark, and I feel like the band could’ve crafted a few more memorable tracks expanding on some of them rather than having them sort of melt into the sound of the album as a whole.

But these criticisms are minor; Punk in Drublic is extremely satisfying for what it is.  On the whole, these guys were much more skilled as musicians than their contemporaries.  I won’t go so far as to say that the music itself is terrible diverse, but within the confines of punk, it’s clear that these guys have a greater command of not only their individual instruments but also songwriting as a whole.  Punk was the band’s fifth album during a time where similar artists were only on their second or third, and even then, some of these guys were only on their first major label release.

NOFX is one of those bands that everyone has heard of and is often listed in the context of the 90’s punk revival, yet few people have really heard them due to their lack of exposure.  Really, these were one of those guys that, back in the day, you just had to suck it up and randomly pick up a CD with their name on it and decide for yourself.  This isn’t as much of an issue nowadays, but Punk in Drublic is definitely the best place to start.

Written by The Cubist

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Written by The Cubist

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I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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