Formed in Berkeley, California, in 1983 and relocating to Los Angeles not long afterwards,
NOFX steered clear of major labels and commercial exposure over the course of their career, recording an impressive number of full-length albums plus an assortment of EPs and singles. The band started out as a trio comprised of vocalist/bassist
Fat Mike (
Mike Burkett), guitarist
Eric Melvin, and drummer
Erik Sandin (aka
Erik Ghint/
Erik Shun).
Sandin quit in 1985, and his place was taken by
Scott Sellers; that same year,
NOFX also recorded two 7" EPs for the Mystic label,
No F-X and
So What If We're on Mystic? Sellers quit shortly thereafter and was replaced by Scott Aldahl for only two weeks, at which point
Sandin rejoined the band; vocalist
Dave Allen also joined in 1986, but his tenure was tragically cut short by a fatal car accident.
Dave Casillas joined as a second guitarist later in the year, by which point
NOFX's touring schedule had become far-ranging and rigorous. The EP
The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This was released on
Fat Mike's own Fat Wreck Chords label in 1987.
Casillas departed the group in 1989 and was replaced by
Steve Kidwiller for
NOFX's first full-length album,
S&M Airlines, which was released on the legendary punk label Epitaph; the band remained there ever since, despite the release of several albums -- such as 1995's
I Heard They Suck Live -- and EPs on Fat Wreck Chords, which gradually grew into a premier stable of punk revival artists.
Having appeared on 1990's
Ribbed and 1991's
Liberal Animation (which was actually recorded in 1988),
Kidwiller left the band in 1991, and
Aaron Abeyta became the permanent second guitarist (as well as trumpeter), adopting the nickname
El Hefe. Dragged into the mainstream spotlight by the mid-'90s success of labelmates
Bad Religion and
the Offspring,
NOFX compensated with albums like 1992's
White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean that were even closer to the anti-commercial extreme, exemplified by
White Trash's accompanying single, "Please Play This Song on the Radio," which lured un-alert radio programmers with a tight melody, but ends with a stream of obscenities. The
El Hefe-anchored lineup continued to blossom with 1994's
Punk in Drublic; often regarded as the band's best, the album was eventually certified gold. Releases on Fat Wreck Chords continued throughout the '90s, as did the full-length Epitaph albums, like 1996's grungier, less uptempo
Heavy Petting Zoo, 1997's punkier
So Long & Thanks for All the Shoes, and 2000's
Pump Up the Valuum and
Bottles to the Ground; the latter album followed an experimental Fat Wreck Chords EP titled
The Decline, which consisted entirely of the 18-minute title track. Next up was the
Surfer EP, which showcased select sloppy cuts in spring 2001, with the first 500 copies on colored vinyl.
In 2002,
NOFX sifted through countless tapes and recording sessions, eventually collecting 47 songs for 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records. "Pimps and Hookers," which was the only new song on the album, was recorded in one day. Later that year, BYO Records got the band to release the
NOFX/
Rancid split album
BYO Split Series, Vol. 3. This particular album had
Rancid covering six
NOFX tracks while
NOFX returned the favor by switching up six
Rancid songs. The four-song EP
Regaining Unconsciousness came out in March 2003 and served as a teaser for May's
The War on Errorism, released on Fat Wreck and littered with political criticisms. Given the band's outspoken and leftist nature, it was not surprising when they launched Punk Voter, a movement of punk bands that sought to politically empower disenfranchised youth and vote George W. Bush out of office. The organization still remained in action, even after Bush's 2004 re-election. Back on the music front,
NOFX next released the EP
Never Trust a Hippy in March 2006, the full-length
Wolf in Wolves' Clothing one month later, and the live album
They've Actually Gotten Worse Live! the following year. The band's 11th studio album, Coaster, arrived in 2009, paired with a documentary of the band's international 2008 tour in the form of the Fuse network's series
Backstage Passport. In 2012
NOFX offered up a more self-aware set of songs on their 12th studio album, Self Entitled.
–
John Bush & Steve Huey, Rovi