S & M Airlines

The first NOFX record released on Epitaph Records is really just a great big mess. A tinny album full of punk-tinged metal riffs and silly lyrics, it shouldn't be surprising that listening to this record could make some people wonder how NOFX ever managed to garner any sort of fanbase. The basics of the band's sound come thorough from time to time, notably in the live staple "You Drink, You Drive, You Spill" ("I say don't drink and drive/you might spill your beer"), but, sadly, a good portion of this record is just plain stupid. There are some surprising guitar heroics -- musically the band is a pretty tight and fast machine -- and there's even a Fleetwood Mac cover, but there's also a lack of styles, shoddy vocal work, and a relative shortage of legitimate hooks. Thankfully, NOFX soon grew out of the phase represented on this record, but what's left is an album that seems to simply serve as them getting whatever this is out of their systems. If nothing else, S&M Airlines is proof that the first impression of a band may not always stick.