The very essence of Coaster’s spirit is embodied in the opening line of ‘The Agony of Victory’. There’s nothing new here. NOFX aren’t really pushing their creative boundaries with their eleventh studio album. That said, depending on your penchant for biting, sarcastic lyrics, there’s a lot to be enjoyed here. The targets are the same: America’s current state, religion (very bad) and of course, alcohol, partying, having a laugh (very good).

The disc opens with a humorous sample from ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ and then smashes straight into ‘We Called it America’. It’s fast, it’s catchy, it sounds good, but it’s NOFX by numbers, as are the next two tracks, ‘The Quitter’ and ‘First Call’. This isn’t to say that they’re unworthy songs; infact the latter is an excellent ode to drinking until the early morning and beyond, but it’s just not new. It’s why when ‘My Orphan Year’ comes, it hits the listener hard. This is close and personal. The lyrics concern the deaths of both of Fat Mike’s (bassist and lead singer) parents in the same year. The music is heavier too, and it’s a shocking contrast to the summery punk that comes before it. Lyrically outstanding, and unbelievably touching, this is a side of NOFX that’s not often seen. It’s no surprise that up next comes a criticism of religion, ‘Blasphemy (The Victimless Crime)’. The other ‘God-botherer-botherers’ song is the reggae infused ‘Best God in Show’; highlighting the hypocrisies of different people believing in different gods.

The two weirdest songs on the disc are ‘Creeping Out Sara’ and ‘Eddie, Bruce and Paul’. The former a story about how Mike met one of the Canadian singing twins, either Sara or Tegan at a German festival… and proceeded to creep her out. The other concerns the history of Iron Maiden, complete with a Maidenesque outro, wailing guitar riffs and high pitched screaming.

The whole affair is very short, twelve tracks, finished off with ‘One Million Coasters’ via the Ronseal ‘I Am an Alcoholic’. ‘One Million Coasters’ describes the contents of the Fat Wreck warehouse, from Betamax’s to Kodak 110’s, and ten million CD’s. As such, it portrays the incredible longevity of NOFX. They have been making music for a long time. It’s to their immense credit that they can produce albums like this which are still relevant. If their message is the same, it’s because the world hasn’t changed and getting smashed is still just as fun as it was ten, twenty (twenty six to be precise) years ago.