My Little Red Book
NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories
NOFX
Reviewed by Tim Stegall, Fri., June 17, 2016
"The first time I drank piss was on a fire escape overlooking downtown Los Angeles." Notorious NOFX frontman "Fat Mike" Burkett thus sets the mood for punk lit's equivalent to Mötley Crüe's debauched autobiography The Dirt. Bassist, singer, and bandleader Burkett, plus guitarists Eric Melvin and Aaron "El Hefe" Abeyta and drummer Erik "Smelly" Sandin remain the first to admit their ridiculously unlikely rise. They're the biggest fuck-ups, worst losers, and the scariest self-destruction merchants from the shittiest backgrounds this music and culture attracts. NOFX themselves are at a loss as to how they became so influential (Blink-182 owes them everything) without releasing any radio-friendly singles, while thumbing their collective nose at MTV, major magazines, and record company corporations. As money pours in, Burkett gains a political conscience, Sandin overcomes heroin addiction, and NOFX improves without losing any inherent unlikability. In telling their tale, NOFX humanizes themselves. Just don't invite them over.
NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories
by NOFX with Jeff AlulisDa Capo Press, 368 pp., $22.99 (paper)