Offend Your Friends Almost Didn’t Make It CD
From Fond Du Lac, WI, we get the punk/ska/hardcore/Oi! of OFFEND YOUR FRIENDS, who have been smashing the state since George W. Bush was in office. I really don’t know what to make of this. The song topics range from being upset about things to eating poop. Spanning the aggressive, melodic ranges of punk, ska and hardcore, Almost Didn’t Make It is globbed full of sing-along choruses and adorable saxophone solos. I can’t single out what specifically makes this so appealing, but overall, it’s the entire bundle of everything they are throwing at me. I bet they bounce off the walls live, play way too long, and everyone in the room loves every second of it. Popping with the energy of firecrackers tossed under a picnic table, the jokes timed with power and purity make this album more than just a passing glance. The twelve songs start to run out of steam around track ten. This is going to resonate with someone somewhere, and that person is going to go on to do something miraculous and attribute it to these fucked-up punk/ska songs outta Fond Du Lac. Also, the exact opposite might happen, where something horrible occurs and the manifesto references this release. Look, you don’t come here for fortune-telling services, but you could still check out this album and maybe be the person you’ve always wanted to become.