The first listen through this album immediately recalls the Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get?" But the difference between the Stiffies' Nix Nought Nothing and recent nostalgia-fests is the chasm between has-been bids for cred and the frenetic discord of a bunch who think they're doing this for the first time. This album is definitely worth a couple of pogos. It's fast, it's cheerfully nihilistic, it has odd Victorian line-drawings in the artwork. The lyrics are vaguely socio-political ("my generation is an empty lifeboat out to sea"), and the phrase "righteous bastards" figures prominently in the chorus of another anthem. The bare-bones production is perfectly 1977, and the guitarist is called Paul Boring. You can razor your hair without regret over this one.

--Amelia C.