First Ditch Effort

by NOFX

Overview

No matter how immature you are, you have to grow up at least a little with the passage of time, if only to keep the electricity from being turned off. NOFX have spent much of their career as the Peter Pans of punk rock, leading an unending parade of thrashy goofiness in their wake for over three decades. But the group's founder and mouthpiece Fat Mike has shown a greater willingness to open up and get personal as time wears on. On the surface, 2016's First Ditch Effort sounds like business as usual for NOFX -- dirt-simple but gleefully tuneful melodies, big chugging guitars, deep rubbery bass, and chunky, muscular drumming, all in the time-tested SoCal manner. It's when you start paying attention to the lyrics that the surprises on First Ditch Effort make themselves known. Fat Mike is no less of a goofball than ever here, but he's a goofball with his heart on his sleeve who wants to open up. He's trying to get past drinking and drugs ("Six Years on Dope," "California Drought"), he's coming out as a cross-dresser ("I'm a Transvest-lite"), he's got pretty serious self-esteem issues ("I Don't Like Me Anymore"), he's angry about the pharmaceutical industry ("Oxy Moronic"), and he's afraid of the future his kids will have to live in ("Generation Z"). While Fat Mike is dealing with heavier themes than one might expect, a lot of the time he still sees what's funny about it all, like a clown who's still folding balloon animals on the deck of the Titanic. And when he isn't going for laughs (as in "Generation Z" and his tribute to a fallen friend, "I'm So Sorry Tony"), he sounds sincere, no small achievement for a guy who has been trading in sarcasm since 1983. First Ditch Effort isn't a radical step forward for NOFX -- they're still a punk band who smirk more than they shout -- but it does successfully take them into a more thoughtful direction, and shows they can mature just a bit and still be themselves. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2016
Label:	Fat Wreck Chords
UPC:	0751097095317

Tracks

1. Six Years on Dope
2. Happy Father's Day
3. Sid and Nancy
4. California Drought
5. Oxy Moronic
6. I Don't Like Me Anymore
7. I'm a Transvest-lite
8. Ditch Effort
9. Dead Beat Mom
10. Bye Bye Biopsy Girl
11. It Ain't Lonely at the Bottom
12. I'm So Sorry Tony
13. Generation Z

Album Credits

Performance Credits

NOFX   Primary Artist
Joey Balls   Piano
Darla Belle Burkett   Vocals (Background)
Fiona Sly   Vocals (Background)
Luis and Toku   Guitar,Saxophone
Matt Magnusson   Piano
Chris Shiflett   Guitar
Fletcher Dragge   Vocals (Background)
Fat Mike   Bass,Vocals,Keyboards
Joey Cape   Vocals (Background)
Karina Denike   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Brian Baker   Guitar
Darius Koski   Viola
Curtis Mathewson   Keyboards
El Hefe   Guitar,Vocals,Trumpet
Smelly   Drums
Eric Melvin   Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Matt Gorney   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Sidra Hitching   Poetry Reading
Sergie Loobkoff   Artwork
Sergio Chavez   Engineer
Fat Mike   Harmony,Composer,Producer
Jason Livermore   Mastering
Cameron Webb   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Darius Koski   Harmony
El Hefe   Harmony
Eric Melvin   Composer
Bert Hardy   Cover Photo
John Carey   Harmony