NoFX are lazy. NoFX are untalented. NoFX are pretty much sell-outs. NoFX are awful live. NoFX should have hung it up years ago.
NoFX doesn't give a fuck what you think, they've made a career out of making an easy living (you see, that was a little nod to Mike Skinner (AKA, The Streets) who has nothing to do with punk rock...).
Long ago in a suburb far, far away a bunch of kids decided to form a band. Then a 'sound'. Then a label. Then a breeding ground for good music. Then a voter registration/awareness movement. Then they got back to making punk rock again. That is an extremely simplified breakdown, right there. What more could anyone say about this band that they haven't already said about themselves? I guess I could say that it's good to see a lot of the old guard coming back with strong releases over the past few years. Now, which one of you is going to volunteer to be the next Mick Jagger? No one? Sheesh, it was a joke.
Wolves in Wolves' Clothing is the follow-up to 2004's politically 'charged' - and highly successful - War On Errorism, and with two years worth of hindsight to draw upon, I think that NoFX (to say nothing of many other bands) owe a debt of gratitude to Dubbya...I mean, he has done for them what Reagan did for bands back in the 80s. Would a 'thank you' note kill you? How about more songs en Espanol? French? FIE!
So, the music itself is rougher and scratchier than it has been in a few releases (the 7" a month thing must have tightened them out of sounding like a studio band...heh), and what they lack in actual ability, they more than make up for in vigor and execution ('100 Times Fuckeder', 'Leaving Jesusland'). Even songs that aren't delivering unto us some neo-anarcho-punk ideal ('Cool and Unusual Punishment') have a solid feel to them. The punk is back to inhabiting most of the songs on a NoFX release, and I couldn't be any happier. The songs that draw from a variety of influences ('Cantado en Espanol', 'One Celled Creature') manage to capture the 'sound' that this band helped develop and grow.
Mike comes off far less preachy than he has over the past few years, and I'm sure that this was more a result of a maturing perspective on activism than it is a reaction to any kind of backlash to Errorism. He's back to singing the praises of drugs (pick a song), alcohol (any song), and how great his parents have been ('Doornails'). Not to mention his attacks on American ambivalence ('USA-holes'), the state of 'underground music' ('60%') and their critics ('60% Reprise'). Thank the God of your choice!
See now, kids...Wolves in Wolves' Clothing is the real NoFX, and this is the return to their proper form (in full-length, that is). Errorism was all well and good, but it was really just a longer, expanded upon version of The Decline...and that's cool, really. I do have a warning for you, though: if you haven't ever seen them live, and you're going to Warped Tour this year...don't expect too much, just have fun.
