Less Than Jake: 'Borders & Boundaries' 2000 Golf Records (in UK from Fat Wreck Chords)
	This is the latest album from Less Than Jake who supported stadium fillers, Bon Jovi, on their recent tour. A strange combination perhaps but musical differences aside, Less Than Jake also know how to put on an entertaining show. On this album they continue to combine pop catchiness and punk energy with ska and trumpets in equal doses. The result is another enjoyably, energetic album of pop songs achieved without compromising their credibility, in this ever expanding ska-punk market. Although there's probably less ska this time round and more in the way of classic American-style pop punk, that just happen to have trumpets. Their live shenanigans and lighthearted attitude tends to disguise the fact that the lyrical content is often quite thoughtful and meaningful, but their ear for a cheery, catchy tune means that the combined result is still more fun than you can shake a stick at!
Zelda
Less Than Jake website

The Negatives: 'Not From London' 2001 Self released
	'Not From London' consists of mainly new versions of the original Negatives songs so it's not surprising that they have that classic English punk feel that inspires a bit of nostalgia but without sounding dated. They don't rely on the big, power chords and sickening catchiness of the fluffy pop-punk bands but more on good tunes with varying beats, guitar and bass styles together with sing-a-long choruses. The vocals alter depending on the lyrical content, from crisp and clear on the first two tracks to a stern, almost shout, on 'Government Property' and more emotive on the tragic story of 'Marilyn'. There are also a few different topics covered within the lyrics, which display a bit of depth and social awareness. The final two songs connect old and new Negatives perfectly and are also my favourites. 'Black Panther' from the original Negatives collection has an incredible, warbly bass sound with spiteful vocals and 'No Reason' is a new song about the summer riots in Bradford that has a spoken word and bass intro, giving it a kind of Conflict feel, that builds up with a solid, anthemic chorus, which still captures their original style but displays a powerful, developing new Negatives sound.
Zelda
For a copy of 'Not From London' e-mail your details to punx@carricks.cc The Negatives website

NOFX: 'The War On Errorism' 2003 BYO Records
	Contrary to the opinion of several hundred over-enthusiastic Interpunkers, this isn't the greatest NOFX album ever. If anything, it's their poorest since "Heavy Petting Zoo" and it sounds like they're going through the motions on a lot of the tracks. Sure, the record starts solidly enough with "The Separation of Church and Skate", a rant against watered-down, parent-friendly "punk" bands like Good Charlotte et al, although Fat Mike's skating on thin ice here given his alleged penchant for Sum 41. "The Irrationality of Rationality" is a little lacklustre in a heard-this-one-before-but-better kinda way and this is also true of most of the later tracks. However, "Franco Un-American" - unusually poppy for NOFX - is the catchiest song on the album and probably the most important in terms of the overall theme and Mike and Erik's work with punkvoter.com. By detailing his own political awakening, hopefully Fatty will inspire America's youth to become active against the lunacy currently resounding from the ivory towers of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. "She's Nubs", a fond tribute to a severely physically disabled fan, provides a little comic relief but will no doubt be (wrongly) condemned as being in bad taste or not politically-correct. Unfortunately, the record starts to lose its way after "Mattersville". "Decom-poseur" is pretty forgettable and while it's said that Americans do not understand irony, Mike goes some way to disproving this with the inclusion of the pedestrian "Medio-core", a disjointed shambles of a song. "Anarchy Camp" isn't in the same league as previous NOFX ska songs like "All Outta Angst" and, for me, the CD becomes musical wallpaper after that until the very plaintive but very good "Whoops, I OD'd". By their own incredibly high standards, this album is something of a let-down and, lyrically, the political content lacks the biting rhetoric of a Dead Kennedys record. That said, it's still NOFX, there are still some decent songs on the record and the CD has some neat CD-ROM add-ons, including a live performance of the excellent anti-Bush anthem "Idiot Son of An Asshole".
Graeme MacLennan
NOFX website Punk Voter website

NOFX/Rancid: 'BYO Split Series Volume III' 2002 BYO Records
	In this record, the third in BYO's split series, two of contemporary punk's leading lights team up to deliver their unique takes on each other's songs; six Rancid numbers done by NOFX and vice versa. Fat Mike and the boys kick off proceedings with decent versions of 'I'm The One', 'Olympia WA', and 'Tenderloin', all slightly more up-tempo than the originals. 'Antennaes' suffers a little through the clean production as it lacks the intensity and fury that Rancid injected into it so well. The final two from NOFX represent the biggest departures from the originals. Their 'Corazon de Oro' is stripped of keyboards, played faster and is more of a straight punk version than Rancid's before El Hefe, doing his best Desmond Dekker impersonation, leads us through a bizarre reggae version of 'Radio'. Rancid open their side with 'Moron Bros'. The intro sounds fine but what follows is an act of master butchery; to be perfectly blunt, they make a pig's arse of it. 'Stickin' In My Eye' is a vast improvement; quite faithful to the original, with Lars' powerful vocals particularly welcome. 'Bob' is also covered well but then it all goes to tits again on 'Don't Call Me White' as Matt is allowed to take the mic. As any Rancid fan knows, Matt's a fantastic bassist but as a singer, he makes a fantastic bassist. Punk karaoke follows as they all sing on 'The Brews' before rounding off with a very good version of 'Vanilla Sex'. However, only the most diehard Rancid fan would claim that Tim Armstrong's band are the better of the two on this interesting but non-essential record. NOFX 1 Rancid 0.
Graeme MacLennan
NOFX website Rancid website