If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the breeding ground of chaotic, beer-soaked, sweat-drenched rock and roll coming out of the Sydney and Central Coast underground over the last few years, then the name NFÏ should already be permanently tattooed onto your brain. These local punk rock lords have built a reputation as an absolute must-see live experience, tearing up local institutions like the MoshPit Bar and Crowbar Sydney with sets that are as obnoxiously loud as they are brilliantly comedic.
They are the definition of proper, no-bullshit Australian punk.
Well, guess what? The boys are back, and they are bringing the absolute heat. Following up on the chaotic energy of their previous sonic assaults, NFÏ have just unleashed their blistering new full-length record upon the world. The title? Get Drunk Or Try Dying. And let me tell you, it is an absolute ripper of an album that demands to be listened to with a brutally cold tinny firmly gripped in your hand.
Recorded with the absolute legend Jay Whalley of Frenzal Rhomb over at The Pet Food Factory, this new collection of tracks captures the band’s signature raw, raucous energy and packages it into a series of anthems about all the stupid, everyday shit that drives us completely mental. From the maddening, soul-crushing experience of getting trapped in a maze of Swedish flat-pack furniture to the sheer, unadulterated joy of public nuisance behavior, NFÏ have managed to perfectly bottle the modern Australian existential crisis and set it to a fast, furious, three-chord punk beat. It’s got that classic, driving pub-rock grit infused with the rebellious attitude of the Sex Pistols and The Saints, but with that unmistakably distinct Aussie sense of humor that makes it entirely their own.
I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Christos from NFÏ to get the full, unvarnished inside scoop on Get Drunk Or Try Dying. We dive deep into the writing process behind these chaotic new tracks, what it’s like working with a punk icon like Jay Whalley, and how they manage to survive their own notoriously wild live shows without actually fulfilling the second half of their album title. We also chat about their upcoming tour plans, what keeps the fires burning in the local underground scene, and why they might just be the most honest band in the country right now.
So, crack open a cold one, turn your speakers all the way up to eleven, and get ready to dive headfirst into the madness. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Sydney’s finest purveyors of beautiful noise—here is my chat with the unstoppable NFÏ!
