SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NOFX – A TO H

NOFX
A TO H
HOPELESS RECORDS

After wrapping up their final tour in 2024, NOFX has put together a triple album collection entitled A to Z, the first of which features eight tracks, A to H. The album is a delightful mish-mash of rarities, demos, and previously unreleased tracks.

A to H opens with “The Audition,” a cover of a song from the musical La La Land. It was first released as “The Oddition” in 2020 and features previous collaborator Karina Denike sharing vocals with Fat Mike. The second track, “Barcelona,” was conceived 12 years ago and is the last song NOFX wrote and recorded. “Cigarette Girl” is the whimsical installment for “C,” sung from the point of view of a cigarette.

Various versions of previously recorded songs include “Don’t Count on Me (demo)” from 2022’s Half Album, and “Everything in Moderation (especially moderation)” and “Hardcore 84” from 2010’s The Longest EP. A real treat for longtime fans is a recording of “Fleas” live at MySpace, which is from their most successful record, ‘94’s Punk In Drublic.

Musically, A to H showcases the signature NOFX sound with a few welcome surprises. While each song was obviously wisely chosen from a catalogue of hundreds, one of the standout tracks is “Generation Z (demo),” a statement on the current state of the world and a warning to the next generation, still relevant nine years later. A two-minute spoken word outro by Sidra Hitching is played over the music: “How are we supposed to see a future of this world that we can’t even conceive of?”

The career-spanning compilation, and indeed the entire career of NOFX, is filled with stories and great storytelling. Their legacy can be summed up in the lyrics: “When your band has been a band longer than The Ramones/And critics coin you the ‘punk Rolling Stones’/That’s when you know this is for life.” If the rest of the alphabet is this good, fans and new listeners alike can enjoy the lasting footprint in punk rock that is NOFX.

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