Riot Fest 2009 promo poster

Chicago’s Riot Fest Records are once again putting on Riot Fest, a multi-day festival of awesome punk rock and ska. Last year’s festival featured ALL, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Ergs!, Mustard Plug, the Methadones, the Lawrence Arms, the Bouncing Souls, and so many more awesome bands.

This year’s lineup includes:

• Screeching Weasel
• NOFX
• The Alkaline Trio
• Murder City Devils
• The Dead Milkmen
• Cock Sparrer

I went last year, just to the Sunday show, and it was truly excellent. I will definitely be back for 2009. Hell, Screeching Weasel alone would be enough to merit the trip.

NOFX - Coaster

You know damn well who NOFX is. Don’t try and tell me otherwise. Whether you’re relatively new to the punk scene, an old timer, or someone who vaguely remembers Punk in Drublic, you know who this band is, and likely know what they’re all about. The band has, since 1983, pumped out album after album of silly/dirty jokes mixed with the occasional serious song. Or, that one time, a relatively serious album (War on Errorism).

And now, the reigning jackasses of punk rock have returned, after a worldwide, 14-month tour documented in the recently released NOFX: Backstage Passport show, with the amusingly-titled Coaster. (Note: the vinyl version is apparently referred to as Frisbee) So how does it stack up to previous efforts?

Well, to start, it’s something of a “return to form” for the boys. Coaster finds them kicking out the fast-paced, mostly light-hearted punk anthems they’ve become known for. Now, whether this return is a good thing or not can be debated endlessly (an amusing discussion comparing them to nachos was recently had on Punknews.org), but I for one love when NOFX does what they do best.

“We Called It America” kicks things off well, though the ‘whoa ohs’ in the chorus feel somewhat out of place for this band. The band then hurtles into “The Quitter,” a similarly uptempo song that will have the kids pumping fists wildly. Overall, the songs seem to tread familiar NOFX ground; drinkin’, (“I Am An Alcoholic”) doin’ drugs,  (everything?) and being somewhat annoyed with the state of America. (“We Called It America”) They are their typical sensitive selves on “Creeping Out Sara,” a song about Fat Mike embarrassing himself in fron of either Tegan or Sara, of Tegan & Sara.

This album should please fans who have longed for a return to the band’s ’90s material. Sure, the boys aren’t treading a whole lot of new ground here, but I’m not sure anyone would ever call NOFX the world’s most original band. They play some damn fun punk rock, though, and Coaster finds them delivering a solid, consistent album.