NOFX
Pump Up The Valium

In the generous production of NoFx, which started in the early '80s when they were little more than kids, there are albums that have left a permanent mark on punk and rock music. NoFx are the main architects of the fusion between the furious rhythm of hardcore and the melody of punk rock, often called hardcore-punk or Californian punk, but it doesn't matter much, in the end, NoFx is a punk band with its own unmistakable style.

The musical evolution of the band is one of the most astonishing positive notes in favor of Fat Mike and company, who from a metallic and confused hardcore borrowed a bit from the Misfits, a bit from the early Bad Religion, a bit invented by themselves, have reached remarkable heights since the early '90s. Paradoxically, the album that best expresses the NoFx-style was released in 2000, Pump Up The Valium, brilliant from the title and cover, blistering in listening. Fourteen electrifying songs, played at surprising speed and averaging two minutes long, despite which, they imprint well in your mind and do not get mixed up with each other. The common thread of the album, besides Fat Mike's amusing singing and the explosive guitar riffs, is dementia and irony, the carefree approach with which the group tackles the songs, so much so they seem like the same kids who founded this band seventeen years earlier, kids who, thanks to music, can't grow up and always find a way to laugh and have fun.

It starts at breakneck speed with "And Now For Something Completely Similar" which ends at 50 seconds, but has already immersed the listener in the grooves of the record. "Take Two Placebos And Call Me Lame" is the classic NoFx-song, drums at full throttle, ultra-fast, precise rolls like a clock, guitars at full volume, a linear and beautiful vocal melody with the addition of El Hefe's backing vocals, an asset to the band for his great skills in playing guitar, trumpet, and singing. "Dinosaurs Will Die" starts with a palm muted guitar paving the way for another track launched in a wild rush with various and enjoyable guitar solos, "Thank God It's Monday" is, as usual, very fast, "Louise" instead is more "slow" and the guitars become less launched and more incisive, "Pharmacist's Daughter" drives you crazy for its choruses and vocal lines, the same goes for "Bottles To The Ground", a song with irresistible voices, but rather rhythmic, it reaches its peak in the almost off-time repetition of the chorus that closes with the guitar effects and drum rolls that seem to echo the Clash, "My Vagina" has a hard-rock guitar riff and is slow and catchy, followed by "Herojuana" which after two and a half minutes passes the baton to "Theme From A Nofx Album" a song that can only be described with the adjective "spectacular": it's the only one exceeding three minutes in length, and it almost seems like a nursery rhyme with accordion and second voices, an autobiographical text in which Fat Mike talks about his band, the various members, the drunk nights, the friends, the punk rock, of himself, who, despite his nickname, isn't that fat... after two minutes the guitars come into play and decide it's time to mosh and the song, while maintaining the usual singing, speeds up, the drums go heavy and the choruses become dense and emotional, worthily closing the curtain on one of the most beautiful albums of all time.