NOFX

NOFX EP

Written by: PP on 27/09/2011 06:41:49

The untitled NOFX EP is not to be confused with their 1985 self-titled EP, although the styles are very similar. It's also known as "The Hardcore EP" in some circles, because the disc consists entirely of covers by 'rather obscure American hardcore bands' from the 80s (their words, not mine). Agnostic Front, Necros, Urban Waste, Social Unrest, Battalion Of Saints, D.O.A, Sin 34, Rebel Truth and Stretch Marks are the nine artists who are covered, some more faithfully than others, but in the end you can tell the songs are from the 80s hardcore scene from two things: one, they are barely over a minute long, and two, the raw grit and distortion-driven guitars should make many of the modern hardcore bands blush over their comparatively glossy production.

Not surprisingly, most vocals are handled by Eric Melvin, whose off-tuned scream is like straight from the 80s, though Fat Mike demonstrates on a few occasions that he still remembers how NOFX sounded like during their (awful) 80s era as well. The selection of songs is good; most of you should probably recognize "Friend Or Foe" by Agnostic Front, "Mental Breakdown" by Social Unrest and "Race Riot" by D.O.A given the relative infamy of the bands involved, while NOFX also offers cuts from bands I've personally never heard of even by name such as "IQ32" by Necros or "Say We Suck" by Sin 34. Nevertheless, it seems like these are some names that should be re-opened for investigation if they sound at all like how NOFX interprets them on this disc. They do it convincingly throughout the nine tracks, which should be enough to close the mouths on any critics who've complained about the 'squeaky clean' sound of modern NOFX records. And music history students will find it interesting to know that this is the scene that they came from originally.

7

Download: Friend Or Foe (Agnostic Front), Mental Breakdown (Social Unrest)
For the fans of: 80s hardcore, Antibodies, Patac Records
Listen: Myspace

Release date 02.08.2011
Fat Wreck Chords

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