We write to our strengths here at The Latest Pit Beef. True, we’d probably get more hits if we posted articles such as “Which Jeffree Star lip color are you?” or “How Twenty One Pilots were almost the next Mumford And Sons”, But that’s not what we’re about here at The Latest Pit Beef. One thing we never tire of is talking about old, bands no one gives a shit about anymore. Today’s band are the enigmatic Frenzal Rhomb, who embody everything great snotty 90’s punk and one of my favourite groups of all time.

I wonder how many SJW’s would flip their shit over this dude’s reads nowadays, lol

Punknews journalists probably will seemingly never get stop talking about Bad Religion, NOFX and their ilk. But out of all the bands the graced your Fat Music For Fat People and Punk-O-Rama compilations, I never see much love for Frenzal Rhomb. Maybe it’s just nationalism talking, but I always thought there was something that made them stand out from the pack. They never took themselves too seriously in comparison to their peers, they’d play Warped Tour one year, a shitty dive-bar the next and then be on national television the day later. They had their political moments, but unlike NOFX they never got too preachy up their own ass with messages. The closest American band I could compare them to would be Guttermouth, but with an even more wicked sense of humor. They just wrote really catchy music that punks and bros could both vibe along to.

“Never Had So Much Fun” was their biggest hit and got a lot of radio and TV airplay in Australia, even making it onto the Top 40. Given that the only other alternative at this time was shitty grunge like Silverchair or The Living End, this was definitely a breath of fresh air. While their humor nowadays is a bit dated and comes across as needlessly edgy and a bit too DUDE WEED LMAO for some, it still brings a smile to my face. The fact this went gold in Australia probably says a lot about the state of my country back at the turn of the millennium.

The problem with most of the EpiFat releases from the 90’s is that it all sounds so similar. By contrast, Jay Whalley’s broad accent ensured Frenzal Rhomb stood out amidst the legions of NOFX wannabes in the late 90’s. Their distinctly Australian subject matter and ‘colourful’ use of language definitely set them apart from your average skate punk band (I don’t think many American bands would get away with a song entitled “Johnny Ramone was in a Fucken Good Band But He was a Cunt (Gabba Gabba You Suck)“.

This honestly sounds like it could’ve fit on All Killer, No Filler if it weren’t for the lyrics, tbh

One other thing to note about Frenzal Rhomb and why they have such a dedicated fanbase here is their willingness to tour anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Australia isn’t like the United States, where a band can play up to 25 dates in the span of a month. Most bands usually just hit 3 capital cities on the east coast and call it a day, expecting anything more would be laughable. Frenzal Rhomb on the other hand had zero qualms touring anywhere, and they still don’t. I grew up in a town roughly 1000 miles from the nearest capital city and they made the effort to tour there at once every 2 years. They probably didn’t make much money doing this, but it sure made for a hella of a time for the teenage population, that’s for sure.

Even their poppier songs were funny as hell, this is basically just Everclear with an Aussie accent. Trophy Eyes, take note.

I didn’t start going to gigs until I was about 15/16, which is hella late compared to some other writers here. One of the first gigs I ever saw when I moved to Brisbane to was Frenzal Rhomb playing this tiny ass venue, and they blew the roof off. Given that the most entertainment I saw in my hometown was one football game every 6 months and cover bands every other week, this was something completely different entirely. This wasn’t even at their peak, this was years after they’d essentially fallen off the radar and been reduced to playing endless pub gigs, and they still brought it live.

Another thing great about them is unlike other EpiFat bands, they never wore out their welcome. While Fat Mike and Greg Graffin spent the 2000’s essentially yelling at clouds, Bush and The Kids These Days™, the guys in Frenzal Rhomb were pretty lowkey in comparison. Aside from a few regional tours and a pair of albums, they remained pretty quiet for the majority of the decade. Apart making national headlines for trolling some television presenters (as seen above), Jay & Lindsay hosted a nationally syndicated radio show from 2004-2007, proving even scummy punks can make it big in some way.

They’re also self-aware as fuck, which is more than I can say for most bands their age (this Facebook account is a goldmine, btw)

Should Frenzal Rhomb be cosigned to the bin of history, or do they deserve some more respect? Do you think skate punk will ever be relevant again? Let us know in the comments below? Would you ever enjoy going from playing in a punk band to playing the same 10 indie bands day-in, day-out on morning radio? Let us know in the comments below!