NOFX - LIberal Animation: Classic Album Review

What with me being pleasantly surprised by NOFX’s latest release, I decided to look back on their debut record and see if it holds up at all. Hell, half the fun of celebrating a good album is laughing at past failures, and NOFX is no different.

The important thing to keep in mind when looking at an album, or rather, any piece of art made in the past, is to recognize the context in which it was created. In this case, NOFX’s Liberal Animation is a hardcore punk album written mostly by Fat Mike in 1988. If you know anything about NOFX and its members, then you know that Fat Mike and the rest are huge fans of hardcore punk of the 70s, including acts like The Misfits and Black Flag. As the result tends to be whenever a group first starts, they aimed to mimic that style as much as they could. What does this mean? It means short songs with wave after wave of power chords played as fast and as loose as it could possibly be, with lots of screeching from Fat Mike.

So how does all this chaos actually sound? Well, it’s pretty bad actually. I mean, as bad as a hardcore punk album can really get. Very rarely do I see any actual objective quality in hardcore punk. I know lots of people like to get pretentious and analytical over how acts like Black Flag and Reagan Youth somehow stripped rock to its very core and somehow they should be praised for that, but to me, punk was more about screaming your heart out and trying to make the music reflect that. So no, Black Flag’s Damaged isn’t the best record ever made, but it’s certainly an important one. All that is to say, I don’t always “get” hardcore punk, but I can enjoy it. Liberal Animation is not one of those times.

Musically the album is a poor man’s (albeit well-intentioned) Black Flag rip off. Fast tracks, played short, with lots of hissy distorted guitars that sound like they were recorded while a lawnmower was playing in the background, and Fat Mike doing his best Henry Rollins impression. All over it’s a pretty standard album punk album save for the drums and the lyrics. Though Erik Sandin is regarded today as one of the best punk drummers, his debut here is downright atrocious. I know punk drums are played more frantically with more chaotic rhythms, but Sandin’s drums are so sloppy it sounds like he’s a caffeine addict with Parkinson's. He’s off rhythm constantly, often speeding up past the rest of the band. There’s little to no organization to his play style, making the one thing that’s supposed to be a constant in rock music (a constant beat) impossible to detect.

On the other hand the album is interesting to dissect lyrically. Just the title gives the impression of something being different. Punk music, known for being a left-swinging genre, now has a contender willing to criticize the left in as plain terms as possible. With this title, NOFX is stepping out to say, “hey liberals, why don’t you stop being peace loving hippies and actually try to make a difference?!” It’s a welcome change of pace from the usual, often whiny, politics of punk. Even the opening track, “Shut Up Already” is telling animal rights activists to shut the fuck up. It’s simple, but effective. Side note: Fat Mike became a vegetarian after this album was written… so the point is kind of moot.

There isn’t a whole lot that is redeeming about Liberal Animation. Thankfully, NOFX did not continue this style for very long. Like The Descendents, who were active during the band’s debut, NOFX slowly changed its style to the melodious punk rock as we know and love them. Once the band hits their stride at White Trash, Two Heebs, And A Bean, the band becomes more pop-influenced, incorporating strong melodies and catchy tunes rather than hardcore energy, but often retains the politics the band was known for.

Looking back on it today, Liberal Animation is a time capsule of a band’s first tentative steps into art. It’s not a particularly good step, but it’s one that NOFX wears on its sleeve, with Shut Up Already still appearing in the band’s setlist today. Gone but not forgotten, Liberal Animation is an LP that is little more than a bruise on the body of a band that has earned their place in music history.

General Consensus Upon Release: 3/10

My Rating: 3/10