“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 Alulis
Da Capo Press, 368 pp., $22.99 (paper)

This article appears in June 17 • 2016.

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Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.