NOFX Hardcore EP

NOFX released the Hardcore EP in august 2011, and it hit the streets like a regular bomb. 
This so called nameless album has been released through FAT MIKE's ( vocals, bass) very own label FAT WRECK CHORDS. And i grabbed me a copy when released. It's unofficial monikker has become THE HARDCORE EP.

NOFX Hardcore EP

And now for some history and trivia : 
NOFX is a  fourpiece band of +40-year old FAT ass punks from sunny California. Loud and obnoxious these guys have been playing their signature punkrock for almost 30 years. 
1983 is the year that FAT MIKE and ERIC MELVIN (guitar, screams) decided to form their own band after witnessing the emerging hardcore scene in their backyard of California with legendary label SST and the glorious BLACK FLAG amidst some of the early '80's hardcore punkbands. Following in their footsteps these deviant misfits felt the need to grab themselves an instrument and yell their frustrations into a microphone. 
Almost 30 years later they have proven to be one of the survivors in punkrock and keep on releasing new material,
for some they remain brilliant and fresh, to others it's just the same old thing again and again. 
A mixture of typical punkrock as made popular during the '90's punkboom and just plain old silly lyrics about ...
just about anything  that comes to mind of NOFX's frontman FAT MIKE, funny, provocative and witty are the key-elements to a NOFX song. Together with one of the best drummers ever, ERIC 'SMELLY' SANDIN and guitarhero AARON 'EL HEFE' ABEYTA ( since 1991) these guys have been paving the way for many bands to follow. 

X marks the spot 

For this occasion the old farts decided to have a take on some of their own personal youth memories and slapped together a piece of black gold with 9 hardcore punk classics. Since this record has literally no artwork, except from the NOFX harcore cross logo on the front, lyricssheet or tracklisting it's quite a challenge to find out who's songs they covered. Thanks to the internet and some familiar sounding tunes we can give you an insight on the mentioned tracks and authors. And here they are listed just the way they appear on the record, if you want to give it a listen then Click Here a nice little video with all nine songs and the different vinylformats. 


 NOFX Hardcore EP :


AGNOSTIC FRONT - Friend or Foe
NECROS - I.Q. 32
URBAN WAST - Police Brutality 
SOCIAL UNREST - Mental Breakdown
BATTALION OF SAINTS - No More Lies
DOA - Race Riot
SIN 34 - Says We Suck
REBEL TRUTH - Child Hosts The Parasite
STRETCH MARKS - Professional Punk

Pretty obvious 

To follow the DIY background that surrounds this early hardcore scene the artwork has been done in accordance. 
No fancy pictures, images or anything else whatsoever. No concepts, marketschemes or whatever they try to catch us with. Just loud, fast music all packaged in a minimalistic albumcover.
A dirty white cover featuring a hardcore cross and the letters NOFX, that's all there is and that's all you'll need.
The vinyl has been released in three different sizes and comes in three different colorways. There's a clear, black and white splatter 7", a white and black 10" with features the 9 songs on both side, a black version ( as shown) that only has one side with tracks and the other is just blank and there's a 12" picture disc featuring the X logo in a large version on the A side and some old band pics on the B side. Some clues to the tracks can be found in the matrix etchings of the record. It holds US city names that have a direct link with the covered bands. 

A blank side aka waste of vinyl. 

Some other fun facts about this one are the merhandise that surround this release.
A DIY T-shirt was available for a short period of time from FAT WRECK CHORDS, actually it was just a white
T-shirt and a black marker to join it. You could replicate the album artwork yourself and create your very own
DIY old school punk shirt. They even encouraged the buyers to go all out and to liven their shirts up with own creations by putting up a contest for the best designed shirt. 


All in all this is just a great album filled with hardcore punk classics brought to you by the band that always went their own way. And you can't deny that the roots of hardcore punk are also the roots of today's music scene. 
So give it a spin and forget about the fact that it's NOFX, it's good honest music and even in the contemperary hardcore/punk scene with tons of bands and genres that's something hard to find. 




Ezekiel02:24:81