So why is NOFX’s Punk in Drublic on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I’m not sure if “Linoleum” is my favorite NOFX song, but it’s certainly up there. I do tI’m not sure “Linoleum” is my favorite NOFX song, but it’s certainly up there. I do think it has that “classic” NOFX sound, one the band might choose if forced to pick a single song to represent themselves.
I’d go so far as to say Punk in Drublic is where NOFX perfected their ability to craft a big, powerful punk rock sound with an accessible pop-punk edge, all without taking themselves too seriously. Even so, “Linoleum” carries an earnestness that makes it even more accessible and endearing.
And then there’s “The Brews,” which I’ve come to respect as arguably the greatest Jewish empowerment anthem in punk history. It’s a fun song – as is much of NOFX’s output – but honestly, as a political statement it remains as important and prescient today as it did in the ’90s.
Also, it absolutely rocks, which always helps.
Here’s a great 1995 live take of “The Brews” at the Bizarre Festival in Cologne, Germany.
The diversity of the band (which the 1992 album title, White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean helpfully explains for us) also allows them to get into material like, “Don’t Call Me White.” Not my favorite musically, but it does land some unexpectedly nice harmonies near the end.
It’s also important to note that NOFX is seriously invested in comedy and having a good time. Is some of it sophomoric? Sure. But also: fun.
Songs like “My Heart Is Yearning” are just a silly and offbeat good time, while helping to show off a much wider range of musical interests and influences – for example, I think we can hear a steel drum lurking in the mix on this one!? – than you might expect.
Released on Fat Wreck Chords, the band’s own scrappy-but-influential label, Punk in Drublic helped define the 1990s skate-punk wave that soon dominated Warped Tour lineups for a decade. That tour is where I caught them live myself, in Randall’s Island, NYC, along with a slew of other ska and punk legends.
While NOFX never fully crossed into the MTV mainstream the way Green Day or The Offspring did, the album’s mix of wacky frat-style comedy, left-leaning politics, and monster hooks made it a touchstone of the pop-punk crossover era.
Also see: NOFX – Ribbed: #875 of best 1,000 albums ever
Personal stuff that has something to do with NOFX’s Punk in Drublic
While the NOFX album, Heavy Petting Zoo, sadly did not attain the honor of making the best 1,000 albums ever list, I have a close attachment to it that I’ll mention here as it was released just a few years after Punk in Drublic.
The attachment isn’t to the album itself so much as it is to a poster of the album cover, which for reasons that remain unclear had a place of honor in the downstairs of the house that I lived in during my senior year at Binghamton University.
The house was the unofficial “rugby house,” and it’s a year and a time as close to Animal House that I will ever experience in this or any other (quite likely) lifetime. It was a great year in my life, really, the true best of times, with no obligations beyond occasionally rolling into class now and then, and pushing off vague notions of the post-collegiate “future.”
And there was the Heavy Petting Zoo poster, watching over our beer-soaked, Animal House-esque rugby scene in the cold wilds of upstate New York.
Some stats & info about NOFX – Punk in Drublic
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Punk Rock, Rock Music, Pop Punk, Punk Revival, Skate Punk, SoCal Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Punk in Drublic released? 1994
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #492 out of 1,000
NOFX’s Punk in Drublic on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from NOFX’s Punk in Drublic that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Linoleum supports my head – gives me something to believe.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.