If you thought punk lords NOFX were just going to casually let slip that they had put the finishing touches on their fourteenth studio album, well, you’d have thought wrong. Today, the SoCal trouble makers have eventfully declared their intentions to release their new record, Single Album, sharing a new single that doesn’t just include them, but dozens of bands from all over the world – including Avenged Sevenfold. How? Well, we’re glad you asked.
‘Linewleum’, as the new track is titled, is a tip of the hat to the NOFX deep cut ‘Linoleum’ which despite being treated as nothing more than an album track upon release, became nothing short of a cult classic. Since its release a quarter of a century ago, the track has been a go-to cover for any band with even the slightest punk rock sensibilities.
The ‘Linewleum’ video clip is peppered with numerous examples of covers coming from all corners of the globe. Both the track and the clip feature a hefty dose of Avenged Sevenfold, who themselves decided to cover the track with plenty of added oomph and finger tapping.
“I have no idea why ‘Linoleum’ is THE NOFX song that is covered by so many bands while other NOFX songs get hardly any attention”, says Fat Mike of the new single. “‘Linoleum’ wasn’t a single, it had no video, it got no radio play, and most importantly, it didn’t even have a chorus!!! All popular songs have choruses! WTF! So, One night I stayed up till 4:00 am checking out all the different versions on YouTube. Watching hundreds of bands from over 28 countries (mostly Indonesia) doing ‘Linoleum’ was a humbling experience for me.
“So I decided to write a song that was a shout out to all those people that learned those four chords and remembered the non-rhyming lyrics. Then I asked the biggest of all the bands (Avenged Sevenfold) to play some leads on the song. Then M Shadows suggested we do a video together. Then I figured I should put all of the bands in the video. Well, I couldn’t fit all the bands, but I picked a bunch of cool ones! A song about not playing a song that’s not a hit song with a video about other bands covering the song! This is why I love punk rock writing punk songs. Rules out the door!”
The track is the first warning shot from Single Album which will hit shelves on Friday, 26th February and is poised to be one of the more personal, darker outings we’ve seen from the band. But don’t pigeonhole the record just yet. The themes and stories within range from the macro topics of politics and social unrest right through to the intimacy of heartbreak and personal loss.
Clearly, it’s the kind of album you don’t take your eye off, don’t get wet and don’t feed after midnight, but it will probably wreak havoc regardless.
