NOFX

Coaster is a NOFX album. Not clear enough for you? On the California band's 11th full-length, Fat Mike and company continue to write skateboarding-inspired melodic punk. NOFX haven't really changed musically (save for The Decline) in nearly 20 years. Instead, they've written pretty much the same music for their last eight albums, having given up some of their edge, post-1992's Ribbed. But it works for them, so much so that their reliability is one of the best things about the band. On the lyrical side, Fat Mike has eased up on the anti-government posturing seen on 2006's Wolves in Wolves Clothing and 2003's War On Errorism. If nothing else, we have to thank Barak Obama for allowing Fat Mike to concentrate on playful lyrics, poking fun at the record industry and various lifestyle choices, though he gets a little personal on "My Orphan Year." NOFX simply are what they are, and with Coaster, they continue to be.