NOFX albums are reliable in the same way that Ramones or Joan Jett records used to be. Pretty much without exception, each new release is going to have great examples of the very same things you did, or didn't, like about the previous. That said, there's not much to dislike about Pump Up the Valuum, which showcases NOFX at their catchy, lowbrow best.

With songs as melodic as any Green Day offering and twice as aggressive, these guys might be all over mainstream radio if the lyrical content didn't often graphically explore such NC-17 areas as B&D, transsexualism, and drug use. But that's part of the appeal of NOFX: Like a manic hybrid of the Three Stooges and Fugazi, the band gleefully flushes out its underground ethics with toilet humor. While tracks like "My Vagina" put adolescent goofiness front and center, others such as "Dinosaurs Will Die" and "Take Two Placebos and Call Me Lame" tackle issues inseparable from the punk rock lifestyle and indie philosophy to which NOFX adheres.

Such relentless wackiness becomes tiresome at times, with each song dripping innuendo and/or double entendre. But, again, you know what you're getting with NOFX, and as long as you gauge your mood to the music, the two of you should get along just fine.