"On the topic of Punk In Drublic,
it’s over produced, melodically boring, old hat tricks.
NOFX kick ass on your mastercard. Boring punk rock kids.
Inter-scene snide remarks right back at you.
By the end of this disc all the songs remain the same.
No one else will say it, so I will. You Suck!”
-MaximumRockNRoll
1994 was a very interesting year for punk music. Dookie was released by Green Day, which pretty much was the craftwork of today’s pop/punk genre. But another cd was released that year which was crushed by all of Green Day’s publicity, as if anyone hasn’t been crushed by them as of now. This other cd only went half-gold, this achievement only to be rewarded one other time to Donny Osmond. That cd was Punk In Drublic by NOFX.
As you can see by my little snippet of a critic, MaximumRockNRoll really hates NOFX, as do many other music enthusiasts. Some say it’s the harsh vocals. Some say it’s because their music isn’t “solid”, whatever the frig that means. But when I go to school with my NOFX shirt on, I get the same reaction almost every time. “Dude, I can’t STAND NOFX!” I tell them to get over it and I walk away, but only because my school has security cameras ;). But in the slight chance that someone actually says “Wow, NOFX owns”. I go to ask them what album do they find to be their best. The simply reply, “Punk In Drublic is definitely my favorite”. This is the band’s most popular album, for the quirky title, or the music itself, all I know is that this is the favorite. I must say that this is also the album I discovered the band through, but it is not my favorite. But it still stands as one of the band’s best.
NOFX is some pretty sweet pop/punk. If you ask me, I like them more on their late 80’s/early 90’s albums more because this seems to be the bands gap from brutal and heavy punk, to more pop/punk focused. Punk In Drublic was the death of the songs like “Showerdays”, and “Green Corn”. This was the birth of songs such as “Franco Un-American” and “Don’t Call Me White.” The funny thing is, is that this album tends to be more of a mix of the heavier stuff with the newer stuff. You have the song “Lori Meyers”, which is pretty heavy. Then you have “Linoleum”, which is a typical pop/punk anthem song.
The instrumentation on the album is NOFX goodness. When the band actually tries, it sounds amazing. Guitar solos and bass solos, with a BPM of about 440. But when NOFX just feels like having fun, usually you have fun with them. That is one of the things that I will always cherish about NOFX. They are a very fun band, I hope to see them live someday because I hear they let you call out a random song of theirs and they’ll play it if they can. The vocals are usually what people whine about. Sometimes Fat Mike will go a little crazy with the nasal-ness of the voice, but other than that I like the vocals.
I could not possibly have a favorite song on a NOFX album. I will admit that they are probably my favorite band. I can listen to anything they make, at any time. I do not have a favorite track. I could say that I fancy the middle of this album. Those tracks are the most “solid” in my opinion. Don’t Call Me White is classic. Perfect Government is even better. This is the best portion on the album, no doubt about it.
This album is no where near perfect, nor is it bad. It just happens to the fan favorite from NOFX. There were a lot of enjoyable tracks on here, none that I would skip. If you want to get into NOFX, then this is the album to get. This cd gives you the hard edged, the soft cornered, and the in between of NOFX. Not to mention that this goes down with people as one of the best pop/punk cds ever made.
4/5
