I have been a fan of Nofx since I was a teenager, and have listened to pretty much every song they have ever released - even the bad ones - and saying that, says a lot, because these guys have released an insane amount of albums, to date, they've released 15 Albums, 17 EPs and a bunch of 7"s.
They have always been a favourite band of mine and will continue to be for a long time. I watched their Tv Show: Backstage Passport, read their book The Hepatitis Bathtub, and watched their documentaries and many interviews with the band, I also recently watched Fat Mikes - the lead singer/ bass player - Musical - Home Street Home, which was cool, and some of the songs on that have stuck in my head since checking it out. If the show ever comes to Ireland I'd buy a ticket for it in a heartbeat.
I've seen them live back in 2009 when they played here, which to date is the last time they played over this way. Currently, they're doing their final tour and I'm going to find out what gig of there's I'll be getting a ticket for. They released some dates, but with everything going on in my life now, I couldn't go, however, they'll be releasing some more, so hopefully, in a few months I can get my tickets; each gig is a different album by the look of it, so I think I'll be tracking them to a few cities to watch a couple of the gigs.
Drop The World - Nofx - From The Album - Heavy Petting Zoo
This song is so good, I think it's amazing how something can have a downbeat feeling while having that unfaltering drive that these guys - especially the drummer - can bring to the table.
I love the harmonising in their music, and how it is all this sound that feels like it shouldn't work, but at the same time does.
No matter what I'm feeling, or whether or not I'm up for listening to music, if I throw Nofx on, I'm instantly uplifted and reminded that no matter how bad my life is, I'll never be as bad as these guys haha
Whoops I Od'd - Nofx - From The Album - The War on Errorism
I think this is such a great and well-written song lyrically, obviously, it's about an OD that may or may not be a work of fiction.
I love the lyric in the second half of the song, "A year has passed, like photographs, my life is just, a scrapbook of, old friends and faded memories.
Looks like I pulled, the rug from under myself, the falls too much for me to recover from, it's been real fun, but now I must say goodbye.
I'll see you all at Oki-dogs, see you all at Oki-dogs."
So bittersweet, and sometimes I feel like my life is a scrapbook of old friends and faded memories, I sometimes look back at pictures and have a vague general feeling of happiness, but at the same time, not much else.
Also, I had no idea what Oki-dogs was until I watched the movie What We Do Is Secret - based on The Germs.
At the end of the film Darby Crash finishes the gig by saying he'll see them all at Oki-dogs, which was a hangout spot for LA punks back in the day. After hanging out there for a while, nobody shows up and he goes to a house with someone and OD'd on heroin, it's played off as a suicide in the film, and I don't know how much of that is true, but obviously the line was added here because The Germs are a big influence on the punk scene in LA.
High Achievers - Home Street Home Soundtrack
Here's a song from Home Street Home, the musical written by Fat Mike.
This song is great, and the jaunty tune sticks in my head all the time. I really like the idea of the song glorifying drugs and showcasing the fact that all of the greatest inventors, innovators, and creators of the modern age have used drugs recreationally, but at the same time, there is a part in the song where the main character stops their song to ask if they'll be smarter for doing drugs, and the others reply that no it won't make them smarter, but it might make them more interesting.
Personally, I believe that drugs will not help you be more creative. There's this idea that someone can smoke weed, or take acid and become a forward-thinking/ freethinking creator. You can do anything you put your mind to, and while under the influence you won't be better or worse than you are without it.
In saying that, I do think some barriers can be broken down within someone's mind by some of these substances, and they can enhance someone's natural talents and gifts, but they won't just conjure up ideas that were never there to begin with.
"If everyone was sober, could you call this country free? Would we maintain our ethics and ingenuity?
Progressive thought doesn't happen a lot, in a dry society. When everyone, is doing some, it makes the world a better place to be.
So smoke a joint, or snort a line, or drop some LSD, use a bong, or glass pipe, or go straight to an IV. It's the simple case of better living, modern chemistry. When everybody's doing drugs, it makes the world a better place to be."
In saying that, I do love the closing lines of the song.
Those are my picks for this weeks #TTT and I really feel like sticking a set of headphones on now and having a bit of a Nofx binge.
