Frank Turner and NOFX are something of an odd couple, with the former helping to define skate-punk through the nineties and the latter—a teenager in the nineties—merely injecting a bit of punk into his overwhelmingly folksy London-set ballads. While you’re equally likely to see either artist at Riot Fest, there isn’t much superficial overlap between their music.
Which makes for an interesting concept for a full-length split LP. West Coast vs. Wessex sees the two artists going head to head, converting each other’s songs into their own musical language. The latest sample from this project we’re hearing today takes NOFX’s jittery 1997 cut “Falling in Love” and retells it through Turner’s signature baritone and a sparse acoustic guitar.
“When [Fat] Mike asked me to do a covers split with NOFX, I was blown away, and immediately knew that one of the songs I’d do would be ‘Falling In Love,’” Turner shares more animatedly than the cover would suggest. “I’ve long thought it was one of his best compositions, it’s a beautiful lyric and melody, and I wanted to come at the song in a way that would lay that bare and highlight the beauty of the writing. I think it came out pretty good.”
West Coast vs. Wessex drops July 31 via Fat Wreck Chords—pre-order it here.
