{"id":144373983,"date":"2024-05-08T12:30:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=144373983"},"modified":"2024-05-08T12:30:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:30:45","slug":"albums-i-loved-in-high-school-nofx-the-war-on-errorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=144373983","title":{"rendered":"Albums I Loved In High School: NOFX &amp; &#039;The War On Errorism&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;How was the band? They were okay. Not great, but pretty good. They played the songs I knew they would.&#8221; &#8211; NOFX, &#8220;Medio-Core&#8221;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The music we listen to between ages 13-18 literally imprint on our brains. Anything you listen to outside of that window? You might eventually like it more, but it won\u2019t make an impression like the stuff you jammed from middle school to high school. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have no idea if that\u2019s true, but I read that <em>they<\/em> did <em>studies<\/em> that concluded <em>something<\/em> like that once (<em>Cracked<\/em> article?) and it <em>feels<\/em> true. I can feel it in the way lyrics and guitar parts come flooding back into my memory, the way I\u2019ll pound out drum fills with my thumbs without consciously intending to do so while hearing something I haven\u2019t thought about for two decades. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So here\u2019s the first in a series revisiting some records I liked in high school. Up first is NOFX, a band I never stopped liking but kinda stopped listening to after this record dropped (it wasn\u2019t them, it was me). Don\u2019t worry, I <em>will<\/em> eventually re-listen to something embarrassing, like Relient K or Slick Shoes. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/d9e62c7f-8e55-4a44-8c2a-e044bc720a47_300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"The War on Errorism - Wikipedia\"\/><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Separation of Church and Skate<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No one in punk rock plays a Tele like El Hef\u00e9. Or single coils, I guess, he plays a Jaguar in this video. Still. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NOFX: Separation of Church and Skate (LIVE)\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ALRVVqR9Zzo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I thought we were past the need for these types of anti-prude anthems, but the most powerful political party in the country wants all of society to go back to the 1850s. So let your freak flag fly. God, what an opener this song is. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Irrationality of Rationality<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This song, Ben Folds\u2019 \u201cFred Jones Part Two,\u201d and <em>Office Space<\/em> taught me all I need to know about corporate culture.  <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Franco Un-American<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legitimately some of the funniest lyrics ever written. Read this: <\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>I never looked around, never second-guessed<\/p><p>Then I read some Howard Zinn, now I\u2019m always depressed<\/p><p>Now I can\u2019t sleep from years of apathy<\/p><p>All because I read a little Noam Chomsky<\/p><\/blockquote><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ban libraries, they\u2019re killing our kids\u2019 mental health!<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Idk how many Gen Z readers I have, but France thought the US and UK\u2019s 20023 invasion of Iraq was unhinged and unfounded and unjust. They even told the UN they felt this way. So <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Freedom_fries\">Republican Rep Bob Ney renamed \u201cFrench fries\u201d \u201cfreedom fries\u201d in three congressional cafeterias, and it became a national joke<\/a>. Listen, Gen Zers: I know the US went to war with Iraq anyway, but trust me when I say lots of us were feeling \u201cFranco-unAmerican\u201d back then. I\u2019m pretty sure this is how <em>Emily In Paris<\/em> got made. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NOFX - Franco Un-American (Official Video)\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZSb3nG4oTNQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Idiots Are Taking Over<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Look, I\u2019m not going to quibble with the title. It\u2019s undeniably true. BUT I wish people would stop using this <em>Idiocracy <\/em>trope of \u201cthe stupid people are breeding too much.\u201d If y\u2019all were really so smart and above it all, you\u2019d realize how eugenist and determinist and plantation ownerish and Calvinist you sound. Take it from an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, you don\u2019t want to sound Calvinist. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>She\u2019s Nubs<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s maybe a little facile, but this song was one of my first introduction to punk\u2019s inclusivity. The story goes that \u201cNubs\u201d is a real person, a NOFX fan without arms or legs who goes to their shows strapped to some guy\u2019s back. Being champions of the different and welcoming to most anyone outside society\u2019s normative spaces, they wrote a song honoring her. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In our current parasocial, \u201cwhat\u2019s up guys I love my fans like and subscribe\u201d YouTuber, inauthentic online relationship era, it\u2019s maybe hard to explain how cool it was to learn the story of Nubs and NOFX when I was in high school. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mattersville<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It rules that they\u2019ve made 10000 records since this song. Hey, anyone under 30: your 30s aren\u2019t a death sentence. You actually get to keep living, until you don\u2019t. You can\u2019t help getting ripe, but it\u2019s your fault if you get bored. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Decom-Posuer<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric Melvin might not be able to play guitar, but NOFX can still do some sick two-guitar stuff. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Medio-Core<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An important message about constantly pushing yourself creatively that backs it up with a few weird chord progs, key changes, and a killer title. Killer title, unfortunately, applies to the song itself. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Anarchy Camp<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I like ska and I don\u2019t care what you all think of me. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>American Errorist (I Hate Hate Haters)<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sick palm muted intro, man this song gets me GOING, and also a sentiment I always get in trouble for expressing. Yes, it is okay to <em>hate<\/em> injustice, to <em>hate <\/em>war, to <em>hate <\/em>racism and sexism and homophobia and transphobia, to <em>hate<\/em> Republicans, to <em>hate<\/em> Aubrey Drake Graham. These things that happen in the world <em>should<\/em> <em>make you angry<\/em>. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a more mellowed out man of peace these days, though\u2014don\u2019t laugh, I\u2019m being serious, I am a more mellowed out man of peace these days, and aspiring to remove the \u201cmore\u201d modifier from \u201cmellowed out\u201d\u2014hatred can consume your heart. It will eat your heart without you noticing, realizing it\u2019s happening. So unless you want to become the people you hate, learn how to counter that anger with positivity. Be the change you want, and all that, can we get back to punk rock now? <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>We Got Two Jealous Agains<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWill this relationship work or not, based on our record collection?\u201d is some regressive, <em>High Fidelity<\/em>-ass thinking. But idk, also cute. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"HIGH FIDELITY Music Snobs\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_SQMl51RDIQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>13 Stitches<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s the punk rock nostalgia track on this record I really get down with. This is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xrjgyl5I8o4\">\u201cRoots Radical\u201d<\/a> for Southern California. Rad guitar tone, too. <\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The next time I went to The Whiskey<\/p><p>It was DOA with Millions Of Dead Cops<\/p><p>The latter band played faster than I could believe<\/p><p>But those songs sounded the same and kinda sucked<\/p><p>Said \u201cJohn Wayne was a Nazi!\u201d<\/p><p>And Joey Shithead was a drunk<\/p><\/blockquote><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My NOFX predecessor was listening to Weird Al with my friend Scott while playing Legos after school. These guys are so goddamn funny. That verse ends with \u201chaving long hair was a mistake,\u201d though, and I\u2019m here to say having long hair is never a mistake. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Re-Gaining Unconsciousness<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I never watched <em>One Tree Hill<\/em>, even though some woman whose music was once featured in the show once randomly followed my MySpace page when I was trying to be a singer-songwriter (dark times). Anyway, from the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_War_on_Errorism\">The War On Errorism<\/a><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_War_on_Errorism\"> Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>In an episode of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/One_Tree_Hill_(TV_series)\">One Tree Hill<\/a><\/em>, several lines from &#8220;Re-Gaining Unconsciousness&#8221; were read aloud,<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_War_on_Errorism#cite_note-18\"><sup>[18]<\/sup><\/a>\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s truly incredible in context. And apparently these characters <em>really<\/em> like NOFX, because there are <em>other<\/em> scenes! Where <em>other<\/em> characters talk about NOFX! This show is basically \u201cwhat if <em>The OC <\/em>took place on a hill, perhaps in Ohio\u201d so far as I can tell. Yet every character\u2019s favorite band is these cross-dressing, BDSM-celebrating, anarchist skate punks who won\u2019t shut up about Reagan. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"One Tree Hill - 210 - &quot;First they put away the dealers...&quot; - [Lk49]\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a2cygd1Mh-o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Whoops, I OD\u2019d<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Always loved that they did the \u201cend of album acoustic song\u201d with bass chords. Fat Mike may not be a <em>great<\/em> bass player, but I think he\u2019s a super <em>interesting<\/em> bass player, and sometimes that\u2019s what\u2019s important. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NOFX - Live &quot;Whoops I Od&#039;d&quot; \/\/ Tribal Area\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QzmpeEVVs-o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What Scratches This Itch For Me Today:<\/strong> <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nostalgia is embarrassing, because do you really like music or were you just happier when you were 16? One answer is depressing. The point of looking back at records I liked in high school is to see where I am today, too. Like said, I haven\u2019t listened to much new NOFX, but I will. Kevin Devine might be my NOFX successor, with his poppy political anger and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BUxDZwsf218\">punkish roots<\/a>. Before Candace Owens joined, I might\u2019ve said Run The Jewels (I still jam <em>RTJ2 <\/em>and <em>RTJ3<\/em>, Think Progress can\u2019t take those records from me). Point is, while I <em>am<\/em> still into punk, I\u2019m not looking for new NOFX comps. Right now, I\u2019m into The Interrupters, Turnstile, Aye Nako, and Petrol Girls, as far as punk goes. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Verdict: I still like it. A lot. <\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NOFX is still rad to me. I admittedly haven\u2019t kept up with <em>much<\/em> since this record\u2014couple songs here and there, but not much. This is me saying if there\u2019s anything cancelable that\u2019s happened in the last 21 years, I genuinely don\u2019t know about it. I know Fat Wreck Chords has a great YouTube channel and does one-record deals with people, which seems good. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This record and <em>The Decline<\/em> influenced a lot of my righteous anger punk sensibilities about politics, and while I don\u2019t know how much either would say about my politics now, the foundation isn\u2019t one I run from. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s go skate. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And throw a shoe at a Republican. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sorry you got an email, <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chris<\/p><div class=\"subscription-widget-wrap-editor\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}\" data-component-name=\"SubscribeWidgetToDOM\"><div class=\"subscription-widget show-subscribe\"><div class=\"preamble\"><p class=\"cta-caption\">Thanks for reading shipwrecked sailor! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<\/p><\/div><form class=\"subscription-widget-subscribe\"><input type=\"email\" class=\"email-input\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Type your email\u2026\" tabindex=\"-1\"\/><input type=\"submit\" class=\"button primary\" value=\"Subscribe\"\/><div class=\"fake-input-wrapper\"><div class=\"fake-input\"\/><div class=\"fake-button\"\/><\/div><\/form><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How was the band? They were okay. Not great, but pretty good. They played the songs I knew they would.&#8221; &#8211; NOFX, &#8220;Medio-Core&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144373983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144373983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144373983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144373983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144373983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144373983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144373983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}