Artist: The End of America
Album: Steep Cove
Label: Forest Park Recordings

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It’s easy to get jaded with music these days. Most of the mainstream music today is over-produced, soulless, brainless, and boring. However, there are still many bands out there creating genuine art, which (if discovered) can go on to becoming timeless and inspire generations of aspiring musicians. These are the bands I seek out. They’re hard to find, but now and then you discover a gem that needs to be shared immediately. The End of America is one of those bands. Their new album, Steep Bay, is a breath of fresh air in a stale landscape of generic music.

Recorded over one week in a remote cabin on Schroon Lake, in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, Steep Bay has an energy and honesty that can’t be re-created in a studio. They recorded by a campfire under the stars, on the porch, out in the woods. It’s amazing what 2 microphones in a 100% desolate area can pick up. 9 songs were recorded over and over, and the best takes (flaws and all) make up the album Steep Bay.

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NOFX has been a part of my life now for 16 years.  I first was introduced to them in 1993 by a friend of mine and I can say that NOFX was my gateway drug into Punk Rock.  The first song I remember hearing was The Moron Brothers off of their 1990 album Ribbed.  (The song was later used in the movie Glory Daze with none other than Ben Affleck.) So, NOFX has always had a special place in my heart.

So, 16 years after my first introduction to the band and 22 years after their first full length (Liberal Animation) NOFX are still at it with their newest release, Coaster.  A no holds barred, honest, insightful, thought provoking, and fun listen from a band that never seems to let up.  What I like about NOFX is they’ve always stayed true to who they are as a band.  Unlike their ska-punk peers The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who I stopped listening to when their shit album Let’s Face It blew up.  While NOFX isn’t breaking any musical barriors or experimenting, they’re a band that builds on their established sound and have given us the best album of their career with Coaster.

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