Top 10 Albums (for a Desert Island)

So, a few months ago I had a conversation with a close friend about something similar to this, with the 10 albums that I would take on my deserted island. These are in no particular order.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Pixies - Doolittle
The Beatles - The Beatles
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
The Cure - Disingtegration
Pink Floyd - The Wall
The Runaways - The Runaways
Journey - Escape
NOFX - Punk in Drublic

Plane Mix

I have just been there and back from AMUC in Hobart, Tasmania. So, in preparation, I ahve decided to make myself a plane mix although it is clearly biased due to the fact that it is based around the music I have been listening to in the last month or so.

Before I reveal the list, I think we need to examine what would make a good plane mix. So, when I’m on a plane, I end up reading a book; usually on music history and the like. Therefore, it’s usually good to have some good relaxing music  but that needs to be contrasted to the fast rhythm of rock and especially punk rock after witnessing NOFX and Bad Religion.

Pity, but the flight isn’t very long and it was about 100 minutes long so not even two hours so obviously not a huge playlist was chosen and well as a struggle to find good tracks since the music brought was only about 100 GB on my iPod.

1. 3rd Planet – Modest Mouse
2. Mountain Song – Jane’s Addiction
3. Free Radicals – The Flaming Lips
4. Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
5. Clash City Rockers – The Clash
6. Freakshow – The Cure
7. Re-Offender – Travis
8. Downed – Cheap Trick
9. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin
10. We Called It America – NOFX
11. 25 or 6 to 4 – Chicago
12. It’s Over – The Cure
13. Run Like Hell – Pink Floyd
14. Jumping Someone Else’s Train – The Cure
15. Money for Nothing – Dire Straits
16. Prayers for Rain – The Cure
17. Warthog – The Ramones
18. Stiffness When Idle – The Replacements
19. The Quitter – NOFX
20. Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
21. Slow Ride – Foghat
22. Ohio – Neil Young
23. Moondance – Van Morrison
24. No Go – The Ramones
25. Just Like Heaven – The Cure

NOFX - Coaster

So, punk is dead is it? Not of as 2009. Over the last 20 years we saw the rise and fall or rock as we know, from the initial grunge and garage rock in Seattle, stimulated by Kurt Cobain and his individual punk view.

Cobain combined his newly found punk rock views with his childhood influences of Neil Young and Leadbeddy to lead the revival of rock from the pop and dance of the 80s.

NOFX seems to come out of this era and produced some real solid punk rock riffs even after the greats in the 70s. Short, sharp, fast and sweet with strange nicknames like most punk rockers, led by Fat Mike, they produced one of my favourite albums of the last 25 years – Punk in Drublic.

Nowadays, in their 40s they still have the same energy and vigor although their intensity has diminished yet they still know how to produce a fucking rocking album.

Coaster begins with We Called It America and followed by The Quitter of which both have a high intensity rhythm and pretty convincing lyrics. The album works really well as the opening 2 songs follow through and work as one whole opening title – with the lyrics ‘You wanna be a winner? You gotta quit thinking about quitting’ making a great firing up song.

After some slower (you know it was coming) tracks we get to Blasphemy with a great catchy riff and faster to get those heads banging and legs jumping. Moving on, we reach Creeping Out Sara, with comical lyrics on Tegan and Sara.

Back with the faced paced music and good riffs mixed with the punk-inspired solos Eddie, Bruce and Paul and Best God in Show is catchy and reminds me too much of a poo song but rebounds with it reggae beats – every NOFX has something foreign.

Don’t forget the jazz guitar and trumpet in I Am An Alcoholic to move back to their weird humourous fillers and ends with One Million Coasters, a great finale with strange comparisons yet gets me jiggy with the retro references.

Rock on NOFX!

7.5/10

More anger

Alright. i’m back. With a vengeance.

No seriously, when i say punk what do think of? Leather. Long messy disgusting hair. Drugs. Sex. Fuck. Sex Pistols. And the like. Not today’s modern culture.

I just recently went out to NOFX and their gig out at Hordern Pavillion in Sydney finally waiting for them to come out after 2006. After witnessing Jane’s Addiction earlier in the year with the original Nothing’s Shocking line up I was not disappointed by Fat Mike and the crew. Entralling and outrageous with many hits from their new record Coaster, which I am looking at reviewing soon so keep watching, they produced a great performance and played many great hits from the past.

NOFX was one of those bands who were able to brink back rock after its so called demise in the 90s due to the chaos and fucking up era of grunge and garage rock. They did what punk did in the 70s (both in the USA and UK) – make it simple because they could play complicated stuff and play it double time with overdriven guitar and being there writing music to make a point – with your lyrics.

So, that’s the prime basis of punk and being able to say FUCK YOU! To anyone and everyone. However, as I mention punk to my friends one of them said, ‘I love punk. Green Day is awesome!’

Rookie.

Green Day for anybody out there saying it is punk IS NOT PUNK.

Remember, to be PUNK you don’t have to dress punk and play punk music but you can’t be PUNK just because you look PUNK. Punk was a movement in the 70s and it was about rebelling to everyone, in particular ‘the pigs’ and ‘the government’. Green Day don’t. If anything, they used to be pop-punk 10 years ago but now of couse they succumbed to labels and money and went shit. Not many bands don’t change after this. If any. Well there are some but you’d
need to find them yourself.
So, my angts against this whole thing will never stop but until another moment like today happens i’m gonna take a break from ranting at the youth and their bad education.

Watch soon.

NOFX – Coaster review coming soon (when I analyse it enough)