Fat Music is a series of eight compilation albums published by Fat Wreck Chords since 1994. The albums include artists from the label's roster, focusing on then-current and upcoming releases and often including previously unreleased material. In total the series includes 127 songs contributed by 49 different artists, focusing stylistically on punk rock and various subgenres such as hardcore punk, pop punk, ska punk, skate punk, and street punk. The Fat Music series tapered off after its sixth installment as the label moved from compact discs toward digital downloads for its samplers instead. Subsequent physical compilation albums released by Fat Wreck Chords were themed around social and political causes, including the benefit albums Liberation (2003) and Protect (2005), and the two volumes of Rock Against Bush released preceding the 2004 United States presidential election. In 2010 the Fat Music series was revived with the release of a seventh volume, Harder, Fatter + Louder!
A total of 49 artists have contributed songs to the Fat Music compilation series. Good Riddance, No Use for a Name, NOFX, and Strung Out are the only acts to have appeared on all seven volumes. Lagwagon have appeared on six installments and have contributed the most tracks to the series, with a total of eight songs.
Contributing artists included:
NOFX is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every release by the band, although Sandin departed briefly in 1985, only to rejoin the following year. El Hefe joined the band in 1991 to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the best-known iteration of the lineup.
Punk-O-Rama was the title given to a series of ten compilation albums published by Epitaph Records. The first volume was released in 1994, the second in 1996, and the rest annually from 1998 to 2005. The albums included artists from Epitaph's roster as well as from its subsidiary label ANTI- and its partnership labels Hellcat Records and Burning Heart Records. In total the series included 257 songs contributed by 88 different artists.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, CJ Ramone, Joey Cape, Pinch and John Reis. Dave Raun, Chris Shiflett, and Fat Mike are former members.
Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several different music genres including hardcore punk, ska, and crust punk. They write mostly political lyrics of a radical leftist nature, opposing religion, capitalism, and authority. Members of Leftöver Crack reside in the C-Squat on 155 Avenue C in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Natives of New York City, band members have a well-documented history of back-and-forth conflict with the NYPD which precedes the band's formation. The name "Leftöver Crack" is explained by Stza as being "an oxymoron", based on the idea that crack cocaine addicts are known for vigorous use and are unlikely to have any "leftover" crack.
Fat Wreck Chords is an independent record label based in San Francisco focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett in 1990. As of 2009 Fat Wreck Chords has released over 300 studio albums.
Rock Against Bush was a project mobilizing punk and alternative musicians against the 2004 U.S. Presidential re-election campaign of George W. Bush. At its core was the idea of using music to create an anti-war, pro-peace sentiment, similar to counterculture music movements of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Woodstock. The effort inspired Australian punk bands to start Rock Against Howard.
Strung Out is an American punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1989. They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of melodic punk rock, progressive rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. They have released nine studio albums on Fat Wreck Chords as well as one Live album, 2 B-sides collections, a best-of, a box set and appeared on numerous compilations and skate/surf/dirt bike/offroading videos. They have played on the Warped Tour and continue to tour internationally. The band currently have an ongoing collaboration beer with Lucky Luke Brewing Company called “Astrolux Golden Ale”. Their albums have charted on the Billboard 200.
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively.
Anthony James Sly was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the front man of the punk rock band No Use for a Name. In his later years he also gained attention for his acoustic solo work, with two acoustic split albums he released with Lagwagon front man Joey Cape and two solo albums.
Fat Music for Fat People is a compilation album released by the Fat Wreck Chords record label on August 11, 1994. It was the label's first sampler compilation and became the first installment in the Fat Music series, which continued until 2002 with six installments then resumed in 2010. The compilation's title is a parody of the 1982 Go! Records compilation Rat Music for Rat People.
Survival of the Fattest is a compilation album released by the Fat Wreck Chords record label on March 12, 1996. It was the second installment in the Fat Music series and features cover art my Mark deSalvo. Released during the surgent period of skate punk where labels used compilation discs as a primary strategy for market exposure, Survival of the Fattest is still regarded by some experts as the comp of all comps.
Bracket is an American rock band from Forestville, California formed in 1992. The lineup consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Marty Gregori, bassist and backing vocalist Zack Charlos, drummer Ray Castro, and guitarist and backing vocalist Angelo Celli, who replaced Larry Tinney in 1998. Bracket has issued numerous albums, EPs and singles since its inception, including many releases for Caroline Records and Fat Wreck Chords. Their sound could most easily be described as power pop influenced punk rock with a continued focus on vocal harmonies.[1][2][3]
Guns 'N' Wankers is a punk rock band, formed by ex-members of English punk band Snuff, and English rock band The Wildhearts in the early 1990s. The band consisted of Duncan Redmonds, Pat Walters and Joolz Dean. The three formed the band on the same day Snuff played their farewell gig at the Kilburn National, and Walters was relieved of duty with The Wildhearts. On the off chance, Duncan gave Walters a call, having seen him play in a band called The Milk Monitors a few years before. Walters called his friend Joolz Dean and the line-up was complete.
Randy is a Swedish punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. While never achieving mainstream success, Randy have developed a cult following in the punk community over the years and were particularly successful in their homeland. They were particularly well-known for writing catchy songs with politically conscious messages, often broaching topics like income inequality, socialism, working-class revolutions throughout European history, and Karl Marx and Marxism.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, a punk rock supergroup cover band, has a discography that consists of five studio albums, three EPs, one live album, one compilation album, eighteen singles, one box set, and three music videos.
The discography of Good Riddance, a Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band, consists of nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, eight EPs, one video album, and five music videos.
Harder, Fatter + Louder! is a compilation album released November 22, 2010 by Fat Wreck Chords as the seventh volume in the label's Fat Music series. It marked the resumption of the series after an eight-year gap since 2002's Uncontrollable Fatulence. During the intervening years Fat Wreck Chords had moved from compact discs toward digital downloads for its samplers, curtailing the Fat Music series and instead releasing compilation albums themed around social and political causes. These included the benefit albums Liberation (2003) and Protect (2005), and the two volumes of Rock Against Bush released preceding the 2004 United States presidential election. Harder, Fatter + Louder! resumed the Fat Music series by featuring solely artists from the label's roster, with tracks selected from current and upcoming releases.
The discography of No Use for a Name, a punk rock band active from 1987 to 2012, consists of eight studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, four EPs, one single, and seven music videos.
Mild in the Streets: Fat Music Unplugged is a compilation album released July 1, 2016 by Fat Wreck Chords as the ninth volume in the label's Fat Music series. When it was released, five of the tracks were previously unreleased. The album containts acoustic songs by punk rock bands or punk musicians, of which most are signed with Fat Wreck Chords. The title and cover art are a reference to Wild in the Streets by the Circle Jerks.