Humorous, political, and staunchly independent, NOFX are one of the great punk-rock bands of all time. They were at the forefront of the ’90s punk-rock wave that made rock stars out of Green Day, The Offspring, and Rancid, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a list of important punk records that didn’t include the band’s seminal 1994 release Punk in Drublic, which managed to be certified gold without the support of MTV or radio. As the band gears up for next week’s King Cat Theater show, we chatted with their always-outspoken ringleader, Fat Mike, to talk about the record and why people seem to like it so much.
SW: Punk in Drublic is a great title. Do you always have a list of titles floating around?
Fat Mike: I’m constantly writing down album titles. I came up with one a couple of weeks ago, but I don’t really like it. It shows an old man using a walker, and it’s called Punk Walker. When we came up with Coaster, we were like, “Yes, this is perfect.”
The album is certified gold. Where is the plaque hanging?
We have a bunch of them. They only cost, like, $130 to get made, so we had, like, 40 or 50 of them made. I have one in my Vegas house. I’ve got one in my dungeon. I gave one to my mom.
Is that something you’re proud of?
A lot of bands got gold and platinum records in the ’90s. But I think it’s pretty cool that that record went gold and actually never hit the Billboard charts. We have one but the Ramones don’t, so that’s pretty interesting.
Does it still sell better than some of your more recent albums?
It sells better than everything until a new record comes out.
What is it about the record that people seem to identify so strongly with?
“Linoleum” seems to be everyone’s favorite song. If you go to YouTube, there’s, like, 20 bands that cover it, so that has something to do with it. I just think that record is really high-energy, and it strikes some chords that way. I prefer So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes more, and maybe even War on Errorism.
Do other musicians tell you that that record influenced them more than any of the other records in your catalog?
Other musicians? No. Fletcher from Pennywise told me that Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing was his favorite, which I think is our most underrated album. Punk in Drublic is like the public’s favorite.
