NOFX: Radio & Rancid: Radio

I do this posts called "I like the cover better." Love the original, like the cover better.

This is not one of them.

The song is Radio. The original is by Rancid, the cover is by NOFX.

The Rancid original is amazing. It's one of the best tracks on the slamming Let's Go - the first Rancid CD I heard and owned. If you've seen them live, you know what this song means. It's generally a few songs into the set. It starts slow, but builds. When Tim screams "YOU KNOOOOOOWWWWWW!" the mosh pit just explodes into motion. The song kicks off the show even more than whatever they actually open with.



Along comes NOFX on the BYO Split Series CD they did with Rancid. They cover Radio.

And they turn it into a slow, rhythmic reggae song.



Yesterday I was driving in my car and flipped over to the BYO Split and listened to the NOFX cover. Then I quickly flipped over to Let's Go and listened to the original. I like to hear them back to back. NOFX really takes the song and does something else with it, but with love of the musical influences on Rancid. You can't hear a lot of reggae in Radio, but you can hear it elsewhere in the Rancid canon.