War On Errorism
NOFX was formed in 1983, in Berkeley, CA, but soon after relocated to Los Angelos. During their lengthy career, NOFX has steered clear of major labels and commercial rubbish but has still managed to release quite a few full length albums and EPs.
NOFX at the time were:
- Smelly – Drums
- Fatty – Bass & Vocals
- El Hefe – Guitar
- Melvin – Guitar
The Review:
The band started as a punk trio with vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin. By 1985 Erik Sandin had quit and been replaced by Scott Sellers. Shortly after that, Scott Sellers quit the band and Scott Aldahl replaced him. Scott Aldahl was only with the band for two weeks before he was then replaced by old drummer Erik Sandin. In 1986 Dave Allen joined the band as a vocalist but was killed shortly after in a fatal car accident. Dave Casillas then joined the band as a second guitarist. In 1989 Dave Casillas was replaced by Steve Kidweller for NOFX’s first full length album ‘S&M Airlines’.
In 1991, Steve Kidweller left the band and Aaron Abeyta (El Hefe) became the band’s permanent guitarist. Several albums later the band released ‘War On Errorism’, the band’s most political album (as shown by the album cover).
On this album NOFX clearly are trying to put the ‘mock’ into democracy. With tracks like ‘Idiots Are Taking Over’ telling the world that leaders just keep getting stupider (*cough* Bush *cough*). They also seem to manage making very melodic and poppy songs into political commentaries with ‘The Irrationality Of Rationality’ and ‘Franco Un-American’, with the lyrics from the later song going, “I want to go up north and be a Canadian, or hang down south with the nice Australians, I don’t want to be another I don’t care-ican”. Of course there are also the typical punk love songs like ‘She’s Nubs’ and ‘We Got Two Jealous Agains’. Then the typical ‘I’m so stupid’ punk songs with ‘Whoops, I OD’d’.
1. The Separation Of Church And Skate (3:09) – 4/5
2. The Irrationality Of Rationality (2:32) – 2.5/5
3. Franco Un-American (2:25) – 3.5/5
4. Idiots Are Taking Over (3:22) – 4/5
5. Shes Nubs (2:05) – 2/5
6. Mattersville (2:29) – 3/5
7. Decom-Posuer (2:54) – 4/5
8. Medio-Core (3:05) – 3/5
9. Anarchy Camp (2:53) – 1.5/5
10. American Errorist [I Hate Hate Haters] (1:51) – 3/5
11. We Got Two Jealous Agains (2:03) – 4/5
12. 13 Stitches (1:55) – 2/5
13. Re-Gaining Unconsciousness (2:39) – 3.5/5
14. Whoops, I OD’d (2:49) – 3/5
What I Like About The Album
All the songs are very catchy and are not too hard on the ears. Most of it is just straight forward punk/ska but at the same time they manage to include many good solos and riffs in the songs, with standouts in ‘Decom-Posuer’ and ‘The Separation Of Church And Skate’. The drums are fast, pounding and consistent throughout all the songs (apart from Whoops, I OD’d) and the bass also does a good job with standouts in ‘Idiots Are Taking Over’. Also, all the songs sound very tight and rehearsed.
What I Don’t Like About The Album
There a couple of songs on the album that are just annoying like ‘Anarchy Camp’ and ’13 Stitches’. Another thing that annoys me is the “Doo Doo Doo” singing parts at the end of ‘Mattersville’. Apart from these things though, the album is really good.
Standouts:
- The Separation Of Church And Skate
- Idiots Are Taking Over
- Decom-Posuer
- We Got Two Jealous Agains
Overall this is a very good buy if you are a NOFX fan or a punk/ska fan (or if you just hate Bush). That is why this album deserves a 3.5/5
