NOFX
Pump Up The Valuum (Epitaph)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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There are plenty of slam-bang punk outfits trying their level best to be funny and still rock, and about... oh... 5% of them score. For my money, the big three are The Ziggens, Mr. T Experience and NOFX. A new CD from any of the above is pretty much a sure bet to make your worst mood swing back to a fist-pumpin' euphoric high. That's definitely the case with NOFX's 8th Epitaph release, Pump Up The Valuum. Thank God they've never mellowed with age. Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, Ed Hefe and Erik Sandin still punch every idea and every note, going postal on those poor, helpless instruments while stomping through subject matter that'll make your mommy phone Tipper Gore in a panic. Like what? How 'bout "My Vagina," a graphic little love song from a sex change patient to his/her new genitalia? Want obligatory anger? NOFX is and always has been disgusted by major record labels, and this year's hate song is the killer "Dinosaurs Will Die," a gleefully sarcastic preview of what the band hopes will be a painful death for the remaining five majors. Every cut is prime, and the hard rocking hooks make great gravy. Serve loud.

© 2000 - DJ Johnson