It's all part of NOFX front-man "Fat" Mike Burkett's punk-rock musical Home Street Home.
Co-written by Fatty's now ex-wife Soma Snakeoil and Avenue Q's Jeff Marx, the musical tells the story of a sexually abused teenage girl that runs away to the streets where she is brought in by a group of friendly gutter punks that introduce her to a life of drugs, prostitution and various other forms of debauchery.
Burkett doesn't do a whole lot of his own on the album, with the exception of a few guitar tracks here and there, and instead leaves it to the likes of members of Alkaline Trio, The Living End, The Descendants, Dropkick Murphys and even nice guy pip-pip folk-punker Frank Turner, whom all lend their vocal & musical talents to the 18 featured tracks.
Bad Cop/Bad Cop vocalist Stacey Dee stars as the leading character, Sue, who opens the album with "Monsters", an emotional roller-coaster of a song. It wastes no time making the listener uncomfortable as we learn Sue is being sexually abused by her father (creepily played by blink-182's Matt Skiba), causing her to make a run for it with nothing but her art supplies, a razor-blade and her dad's stolen gun.
Things lighten up (just a little) with the more upbeat tracks that follow, as we're introduced to the five gutter punks that bring Sue into their oddball street-clique. "Fecal Alcohol Syndrome" is a personal favorite of mine, with it's washboard hillbilly rocker tempo and sneering lyrics sung by Samiam's Billy Bouchard.
After a few jaunty numbers "Three Against Me" breaks your heart as a Fat Mike piano (!) ballad, about a boy who was forced out of his abusive household because of his homosexuality.
"High Achievers", a honky tonk number, features the five gutter punks trying to convince Sue that drugs are the only way to live, using a gaggle of well-respected minds throughout history as examples. Out of context the song sounds really bad but knowing where it comes from makes for a delightfully catchy little number.
Frank Turner lends his friendly vocals as the narrative voice of reason to Sue in two separate little ukulele driven ditties called "Bad Decision" and "Another Bad Decision". If someone is going tell me I'm making foolish choices then I have no problem with it coming from the mouth of Frank Turner.
"I'm Suicide" is probably the album highlight for me. An uplifting rocker, sneered with convincing anger and power by Stacey Dee, as her character is nicknamed Suicide by her new peers. Another highlight is the oddly sweet "Bearly Legal" number about a male prostitute and his john confessing the caring feelings they actually have for each other.
The bulk of the album is excellent and will most likely surprise anyone already familiar with Fat Mike's work with NOFX or Me First and The Gimme Gimmes. For some odd reason the songs are out of the order from the actual stage musical they're from but it does make for a better listening experience considering there's a handful of songs that don't actually make the final track-listing.
As dark as the subject matter is, it's done with a slight smirk and never forgets it's really all about strength and survival.
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