While it might only seem like yesterday that we last heard from the Fat Wreck head honchos, the truth of the matter is it’s been a cool three years since their eleventh record ‘Coaster’ went on sale. Where the familiarity stems is from the bushel of mini-releases that have tided over the meantime, including ‘The Longest EP’, a split with The Spits, an '80s hardcore covers collection, and Mike’s own personal crusade into the world of the insane and erotic, with his all-instrumental porno soundtrack and his madcap circus adventures as Cokie the Clown. Favourites of the punk rock presses and familiar faces on our shores, NOFX are hardly ever out of eye or earshot and that certainly isn’t a bad thing. What’s better is that, despite almost three decades on the scene and an ever-expanding back catalogue, they’ve not degraded one iota.
Marking the band’s third cut under the watchful eyes of famed Descendent and punk rock producer Bill Stevenson (Hot Water Music, Rise Against), ‘Self Entitled’ sees NOFX pull out all the stops this time! Free from gimmicks, concepts and theatrics, the album is textbook NOFX: fast, inflammatory and with a seasoned melodic core that, while echoing past efforts like ‘Punk In Drublic’ and ‘So Long and Thanks For All The Shoes’ and also the hardcore infused '80s albums 'Liberal Animation' and 'S&M Airlines', is still fresh and invigorating in its own right.
Kicking off with the powerful and perverse '72 Hookers’, the album continues for its swift half-hour play in the band’s typical style with every lyrical topic in their repertoire cropping up at least once. There’s political provocation in ‘Ronnie and Mags’, religious ridicule in ‘Secret Society’ and ‘I Believe in Goddess’ and plenty of the social cynicism we’ve come to crave and expect over the years. ‘Cell Out’ and ‘My Sycophant Others’ are two particularly scathing examples and, as it happens, two of the most expertly crafted and hilarious tracks on the album. Another highlight comes from the penultimate track, ‘I’ve Got One Jealous Again, Again’, which, via its delightful wordplay and moving rhythm, recounts Mike’s journey through punk rock and the bands that have brought him where he is today.
There really is little to criticise here. Okay, so the album is by no means groundbreaking and it is a little sad to find an absence of ska/reggae on the tracklisting, but, in replacement, the band have provided a breadth of time-tested melodic hardcore that more than fills the hole. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is a lesson NOFX learned long ago and one that most definitely rings true. Sometimes it’s just best to stick with what you’re good at.