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 think that it has that “classic” NOFX sound, one that I think the band would be proud of if they had to choose a single song to represent themselves.
I’d go so far as to say too that Punk in Drublic is the album where NOFX perfected their ability to create a big and powerful punk rock sound (with an accessible pop punk feel) while never quite taking themselves overly seriously. That said, “Linoleum” does possess an earnestness that makes it even more accessible and endearing.
And then there’s “The Brews,” which I’ve come to respect as the greatest punk rock song of Jewish empowerment of all time. It’s a fun song – as is much of NOFX’s output – but honestly, as a political statement it’s as important and prescient as ever as of this writing in 2023.
Also, it absolutely rocks, which always helps.
Here’s a great live performance of “The Brews,” from the Bizarre Festival in Cologne, Germany from 1995.
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.” It’s not my favorite NOFX song musically, but it does have some nice harmonies, particularly near the end of the song.
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 songs like “My Heart Is Yearning” are just a fun 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 here and there on this one!? – than you might expect.
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 without obligations save for 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 us and our youth life party and carefree banter happenings 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.