NOFX: So Long & Thanks For All the Shoes [EPITAPH]

Why you'll love it

This Epitaph LP comes with a printed lyric sheet backed with full-colour photos. Fat Mike has called it his favourite NOFX album.

This edition

• Lyric sheet included
• Full-colour photo insert

About the album

The title nods to Douglas Adams' So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and the shoes are real: NOFX fans had a habit of hurling footwear at the stage. Recorded at Motor Studios in San Francisco in August 1997, the album was produced by Fat Mike with regular Fat Wreck Chords producer Ryan Greene.

"It's My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite" kicks things off at full sprint, "180 Degrees" and "All Outta Angst" are classic skate-punk rushes, and "Champs Elysées" turns Joe Dassin's French chanson into a breakneck singalong. "Eat The Meek" and "The Desperation's Gone" show off the band's knack for melody under the speed, and "Falling In Love" closes with a hidden radio-show surprise. "Dad's Bad News" and "Kill Rock Stars" keep up the band's habit of naming names and having a laugh doing it, all in under two minutes apiece.

The liner notes modestly describe it as arguably their third best album, and the band photos inside are of four entirely different punk musicians standing in for Fat Mike, El Hefe, Melvin and Smelly. It's a solid tactic for avoiding autograph hunters, and so far nobody's asked for a refund.

Also at Kops: more NOFX on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Epitaph (cat# 86518-1), the 1997 album.