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NOFX

Half Album EP

Written by: PP on 07/05/2024 14:33:43

Could this be the final NOFX release? "Half Album" is a five-track EP that concludes the "Single Album" and "Double Album" saga that's been poking fun at album titles in their usual sarcastic manner. Those were some of their best albums released since "Wolves In Wolves' Clothing" so if you didn't check them out, there's still time. Nevertheless, NOFX has officially called it quits and is currently on a world tour playing 40 songs in 40 cities before it's all over. The initial reports from those shows have been excellent, but that's not what you say about this EP, unfortunately.

Let's start with the opening track "Fake-A-Wish Foundation". It's a super-lazy song that might be lyrically clever, but the melody line and overall impression are weak. "I'm A Rat" is signature-style NOFX with fast-paced riffs and an infectious chorus. It's a solid track. "The Queen Is Dead" is not a new song (lazy!) - it is the third reimagined version of "Naja" from the "7 Inch Of The Month" club from a few years back, which is incidentally also found in acoustic rendition on the "Cokie The Clown" record. It is a tribute to Naja Brooks, who worked their Copenhagen merch stand in the past and died recently. Fat Mike's "Naja najaaaa" shouts are pretty bad here (cue in all punk haters: yeah, the vocalist can't sing in tune), although the song itself is fairly catchy.

"The Humblest Man In The World" has an eerie "Louise" resemblance melody-wise from the "Pump Up The Valuum" record. The bass line is vibrant and pulsating here, and the guitar distortion like you remember it from the early 2000s, but otherwise, the song just isn't very good.

Luckily, "The Last Drag" saves the EP with its "The Decline" similarities. At just over six minutes, it's one of the longest NOFX songs out there. It starts with a repulsive self-loathing part (albeit characteristically Fat Mikeish) that's slow and dark, which gradually gains in volume and tempo throughout the song. It's dramatic and even features forebodingly sad string instruments during its midsection, before finishing off in a breakneck speed finale that feels like a complete contrast from its murky beginning. It's like a progressive punk song and proves NOFX still has plenty of brilliant creativity left in them, even if this is the last we'll ever hear of them on record.

But despite how good the last song is, overall "Half Album" is definitely on the weaker end of NOFX releases. Leave it to the biggest trolls of the punk scene to leave it all behind with such a lazy offering as the final fuck you too to the fan base. Love it - we wouldn't have it any other way.

Download: The Last Drag, I'm A Rat
For the fans of: Cokie The Clown, Bad Religion, Descendents, Lagwagon
Listen: Facebook

Release date 19.04.2024
Fat Wreck Chords