West Coast vs. Wessex

West Coast vs. Wessex is a split album by the American punk rock band NOFX and the British folk punk artist Frank Turner. The split was released on July 31, 2020 by Fat Wreck Chords and it features covers of each other's songs, five by NOFX and five by Frank Turner.

West Coast vs. Wessex
Studio album (split album) by
NOFX and Frank Turner
ReleasedJuly 31, 2020 (2020-07-31)
GenrePunk rock, folk punk
Length29:50
LabelFat Wreck Chords
ProducerD-Composers (tracks 1-5)
NOFX chronology
Ribbed: Live in a Dive
(2018)		 West Coast vs. Wessex
(2020)		 Single Album
(2021)
Frank Turner chronology
No Man's Land
(2019)		 West Coast vs. Wessex
(2020)		 Buddies II, Still Buddies
(2020)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Exclaim![1]
Maximum Volume Music[2]
Hysteria Magazine[3]
Wall of Sound[4]
Louder Than War[5]
Metal.de[6]
New Noise Magazine[7]
Punknews.org[8]
Kerrang![9]
Brokenheadphones.com(positive)[10]

Release

The collaboration and its title, cover art and the track listing was first publicly announced on June 1, 2020. Two songs of the album were made available for digital streaming, namely "Thatcher Fucked the Kids" by NOFX (originally by Frank Turner) and "Bob" by Frank Turner (originally by NOFX). Two accompanying music videos were also released.[11] "Falling in Love" was made available for streaming at the end of the month, on June 29.[12] The entire album was made available for streaming on July 30.[13] West Coast vs. Wessex was officially released by Fat Wreck Chords on July 31.

Background

The title of West Coast vs. Wessex respectively refers to the West Coast of the United States, where NOFX is from, and to Wessex, a region in the deep south of England where Frank Turner is from.[14]

Frank Turner and NOFX's front man Fat Mike had already discussed the possibility of recording a split album over the course of previous years, including the approach they would take. On "West Coast vs. Wessex" both acts aimed to interpret each other's songs differently than they were originally performed. When the two decided to actually record the split album, they also decided not to discuss the collaboration with each other, so Frank Turner wouldn't have any input in NOFX's covers and vice versa.[15] According to Frank Turner:

“[T]here’s no point in doing a straight cover song. You might as well just listen to the original. So with that in mind, we didn’t really discuss the philosophy of this very much till it was just like, “Do you want to do it?” And I think we both understood that we would come at it in a serious way.”[15]

— Frank Turner

About the choice of the songs, Frank Turner noted that he picked the NOFX songs he thought he could play differently, noting that he also picked some lesser-known NOFX songs.

“I wanted to try and pick songs where I felt like me and my band could bring something different to the table. [...] But it did strike me that it would be cool to demonstrate to the casual NOFX fan, who doesn't know who I am, that I am actually a fan. I didn't just go to Spotify and pick the five most-listened-to songs.”[16]

— Frank Turner

Fat Mike admitted taking a similar approach. Fat Mike also noted that since Frank Turner only chose to cover NOFX songs from the '90s, he would also cover some of Frank Turner's earlier work.

“I listened to all his records, and I picked the ones that I thought I could make more interesting. [...] What I did is change a lot of chords. Frank, he beats me in the singing department. So I can't sing better than he can, but I can maybe throw in a melody here or there or chord that he hadn’t thought of.”[16]

— Fat Mike

Track listing
  1. "Substitute" (NOFX) - 2:45
  2. "Worse Things Happen at Sea" (NOFX) - 3:19
  3. "Thatcher Fucked the Kids" (NOFX) - 3:07
  4. "Ballad of Me and My Friends" (NOFX) - 1:50
  5. "Glory Hallelujah" (NOFX) - 3:27
  6. "Scavenger Type" (Frank Turner) - 1:43
  7. "Bob" (Frank Turner) - 3:08
  8. "Eat the Meek" (Frank Turner) - 3:57
  9. "Perfect Government" (Frank Turner) - 2:26
  10. "Falling in Love" (Frank Turner) - 4:08

Personnel

Performers
NOFX
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
Additional performers

Production
  • Chris Hesse - mixing (tracks 1–5), mastering
  • Tristan Ivemy - mixing (tracks 6-10)
  • D-Composers - production (tracks 1–5)

References
  1. Klemp, Kevin (July 30, 2020). "NOFX and Frank Turner Are a Match Made in Heaven on 'West Coast vs. Wessex' Covers Album". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  2. Thorley, Andy (August 4, 2020). "Review: NOFX & Frank Turner – West Coast vs Wessex (2020)". Maximum Volume Music. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  3. Rose, Anna (August 2, 2020). "NOFX & Frank Turner: West Coast Vs. Wessex". Hysteria Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  4. Hurcom, Carys (July 28, 2020). "NOFX & Frank Turner – West Coast VS Wessex (Album Review)". Wall of Sound. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  5. Beech, Dave (July 24, 2020). "NOFX/Frank Turner: West Coast Vs Wessex – album review". Louder Than War. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  6. Wolfsbrunn, Stefan (August 31, 2020). "NOFX/ Frank Turner - West Coast vs. Wessex". Metal.de (in German). Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  7. Moore, John (August 3, 2020). "Album Review: NOFX/Frank Turner – West Coast Vs. Wessex". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  8. Trauma, Tom (July 30, 2020). "NOFX / Frank Turner: West Coast Vs. Wessex (2020)". Punknews.org. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  9. Ruskell, Nick (July 31, 2020). "Album Review: NOFX & Frank Turner – West Coast Vs. Wessex". Kerrang!. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  10. McConville, Brian (August 11, 2020). "Album review: NOFX / Frank turner - West Coast vs, Wessex". Brokenheadphones.com. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  11. Gregory, Allie (June 1, 2020). "NOFX and Frank Turner Cover Each Other's Songs on 'West Coast vs. Wessex'". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  12. LeSuer, Mike (June 29, 2020). "Frank Turner Takes on NOFX's "Falling in Love" for Forthcoming Split LP". FLOOD Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  13. Sacher, Andrew (July 30, 2020). "Stream NOFX and Frank Turner's split album where they cover each other, 'West Coast Vs. Wessex'". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  14. Winwood, Ian (July 7, 2020). "Fat Mike Vs Frank Turner: Punk Rock, Bad House Parties And Margaret Thatcher". Kerrang!. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  15. Pettigrew, Jason (July 16, 2020). "NOFX and Frank Turner want the world to shut up about what's not punk". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  16. "NOFX and Frank Turner to Release Split Covers Album". Bass Magazine. July 20, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
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