Album Review: NOFX - 'Backstage Passport Soundtrack'

Most NOFX fans will already have in their possession the majority of songs on ‘Backstage Passport Soundtrack.’ Nevertheless, the diehard fans who must purchase this album aren’t wasting their money. The collection of songs allows you to dalliance back into enjoying the offensive yet somewhat satisfying vulgarity of the punk rockers in a way that holds your hand and skips you through the fifteen tracks that make up memory lane.

These songs are appropriate not only for the insane interactions of NOFX’s TV show, ‘Backstage Passport’, but also to bluntly soundtrack the human experience with blatant honesty, unnecessary admissions and (multiple, not that we’re complaining) pick slides. From the broody ‘All My Friends in New York’ to the empowering, religion-opposing ‘No Fun In Fundamentalism’, you’ll have a track for when you’re sitting at home alone, as well as when you’re fighting with your grandma about Church (for the latter, also see 'Leaving Jesusland'.)

If you’re craving some more delightful offensiveness, never fear: the depressing and homicidal ‘Your Hubcaps Cost More Than My Car’ has got you covered. NOFX take their geographical awareness to the next level in the sarcastic ‘The Greatest Country In the World’, which mediates on the woes of South Africa, and by insulting just about every country they’ve ever ventured into in ‘Insulted By Germans (Again)’. They do rally us all to ‘move to Australia’, though, and nostalgically spinning ‘Backstage Passport’ will make you hope that NOFX pursue that mission. The most jaw-droppingly offensive song on the album – if it even counts – is the ska-meets-bad-jokes ‘Arming the Proletariat With Potato Guns’. Just about everyone’s already heard it, and your reaction to its bad taste the first time around is likely to dictate whether you’ll brave it again.

Yet, even in all its offensive glory, there are tracks on ‘Backstage Passport’ that are emotionally intense and poignant. The acoustic take on ‘You Will Lose Faith’ is as tragic as it is hopeless. The joyful brotherhood of ‘We’re Bros’ speaks volumes of camaraderie. The confessional ‘I Melvin’, well. That one uses an accordion.

As an introduction to NOFX, not a revisit of their b-sides and rarities, the ‘Backstage Passport Soundtrack’ is just as perfect. The tracks that bookend the album, ‘Backstage Passport’ and ‘Punk Rock Passport’ biographically greet new listeners and invite them into the insanity, reckless and unapologetic world of these veteran punks (who apparently, don’t ‘try very hard.’)

These tracks aren’t new, but they’re a flawless invitation to enjoy careless lyrics, chords and song structures. And after all these years with NOFX, that’s all we’ve ever wanted.

This album isn’t a necessity: it’s just there. For their more intense fans, it’s a nice little rarity to have. For others, it could be a gateway into NOFX. While we’ve heard it all before, and most of these songs can be found on ‘7 Inch of the Month Club’, this is the self-deprecating, hostile NOFX fans know and love: overstepping the line since 1983.

1. Backstage Passport

2. No Fun In Fundamentalism

3. Insulted By Germans (Again)

4. All My Friends In New York

5. You Will Lose Faith

6. Teenage Punching Bag

7. Leaving Jesusland (Live)

8. The Greatest Country in the World

9. Last Night Was Really Fun

10. We're Bros

11. Your Hubcaps Cost More Than My Car

12. Fan Mail

13. Arming the Proletariat With Potato Guns

14. I Melvin

15. Punk Rock Passport