The Longest Line

With the addition of new guitarist El Hefe (real name: Aaron Abeyta), NOFX opened a new phase with the 1992 EP The Longest Line. The band was still rude and goofy, but for the first time it felt like NOFX really stood for something. “Life's too short to just barely exist,” says group leader Fat Mike on “Remnants.” “Widespread mediocrity will suck you up—resist.” To illustrate that point, The Longest Line is split between songs that illustrate the emptiness of mainstream life (“The Death of John Smith,” “Kill All the White Man”) and songs that celebrate the freaks, the outcasts, and the social dissidents (“The Longest Line,” “Remnants”). The title song is one of the all-time great anthems for anyone who feels like a loser: “At the end of the longest line/That's where I will always be/If you need to find me, just go to/The end of the longest line.” NOFX always made targets out of the powerful and the popular, but with The Longest Line it took a more proactive stance. The rest of the band's career would be devoted to sticking up for life’s little guys.