“Pump Up the Valuum” by NOFX was the first album that opened my eyes to authentic music listening. In my opinion, one cannot absorb the true impact of music or the message of a band without experiencing a record from start to finish. And even though I must admit that NOFX is my favorite punk band, I simply believe no one better embodies the spirit of punk rock, especially on “Pump Up the Valuum”.
I must also emphasize that this post is not about how NOFX is the most “punk” band ever (whatever the hell that means) because I’m saving Minor Threat and The Dead Kennedy’s for another day seeing as that’s an entirely different animal.
NOFX released “Pump Up The Valuum” in 2000 as their eighth full-length LP on Epitaph Records. In it’s entirety, the album covers fourteen songs in a little over thirty one minutes. Some of the more memorable track names are “What’s The Matter With Parent’s Today”, “Dinosaurs Will Die”, and “Bottles To The Ground” though anyone who has encountered this record knows every song carries its own hutzpah.
NOFX yields a certain degree of humor completely their own, and its relevance is completely prevalent on “Pump Up The Valuum”. Although, at the same time I have never quite compared them to bands like The Vandals or Guttermouth, possibly because those bands seem to extract comedy to its maximum limit. I believe NOFX has mastered this obviously through their extended existence as a band, but also through the wit and ingenuity of Fat Mike’s style (of course not forgetting tracks seven and twelve, if you’ve heard them, which fit a more Vandals-like platform).
At the time I heard this, it provided a new world of speed to the music I listened to. This was mainly because it served a bridge for me from the pop-punk of Sum 41 and Blink 182 to the harder punk I desired. For anybody trying to find inspiration for punk bass, I can admit to learning most of my strumming patterns from this album alone. But when you get down to the core of the record, NOFX plays music true to themselves which only puts any listener in a good mood.
The length itself only makes the package of music easy listening, as I found out when I played it five times straight all the way through when I first bought it. The mixture and manipulation of sounds also contributes to the easy listening. When I first heard the song “Herojuana” by itself, I found it to be a little bland and an unfortunate deviation from the constantly fast punk I wanted. However, after hearing it in conjunction with the other tracks, it became a fresh addition to the same beats and guitar patterns.
Bands focus on designing albums this way, along with a general message of who they are. But you don’t even have to relate to all these songs to enjoy the album. Though I have never experienced the closing minutes of a bar, I still like “Bottles To The Ground” because it provides insight to who Fat Mike is (If the final track “Theme From A NOFX Album” didn’t). Coinciding with this, the rest of the songs continue carry a blend of nonsense and rebellious attitudes completely true to who NOFX is. And in my opinion, that’s the point of punk rock.
-E.C.H.
