NOFX

NOFX are smart-assed political punks, originally from Berkeley but transplanted to Los Angeles in the early '80s and, beginning with 1989's S&M Airlines, one of the signal bands of Epitaph Records' roster for over a decade. The band's speedy, hooky style has rarely changed, but their songwriting eventually became strong enough to mark them from the pack. S&M Airlines, Ribbed, and Liberal Animation are uncertain and messy, but White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean is the group's breakthrough, the always-humorous lyrics acute rather than silly, the hooks stronger (and tempos speedier) than ever. ("Bob" even showed the group to have a tighter grip on Jamaican skank than many of their punk peers.) Punk in Drublic was even better, from the snarky "Punk Guy (Because He Does Punk Things)" to the rousing "Don't Call Me White." After an excellent split album with Rancid, on which each band covered six of each other's songs -- Rancid remaking "Bob" into a flashy rockabilly number and performing a hostile takeover of "Don't Call Me White," with gravel-voiced bassist Matt Freeman on vocals, and NOFX turning "Radio" from speed rock to organ-driven ska and making the "Let California fall into the fucking ocean" wishes of "Antennas" sound even more sincere -- NOFX jumped from Epitaph to Fat Wreck Chords, issuing the excellent War on Errorism, whose title and cover art are a direct slap at George W. Bush, and whose heartfelt spleen on songs such as "Franco Un-American" make it an up during a lousy, disheartening political time. (MICHAELANGELO MATOS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide