Fat Wreck Chords

Fat Wreck Chords, pronounced “Fat Records,” grew out of the punk world surrounding NOFX. The independent San Francisco label was started in 1990 by NOFX singer Michael Burkett, better known as Fat Mike, and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett. Its focus has remained punk rock, with a catalog that had passed 300 studio albums by 2009.

NOFX sits at the center of the label’s story, but Fat Wreck Chords has also provided a home for bands that show punk’s range across melodic skate punk, pop-punk, hardcore-leaning material and irreverent side projects. Strung Out and Good Riddance represent the label’s harder, fast-moving edge, while Me First and the Gimme Gimmes brought their punk cover-band approach to the roster. Bad Astronaut connected the label to another Fat Mike-led project, and artists including Nerf Herder, Bad Cop Bad Cop and The Last Gang extend the label’s long-running commitment to hook-heavy punk songs.

The label has also issued recurring series built around punk’s collector culture and live energy. Live in a Dive documented performances in concert-album form, while the Fat Club ran as a year-long sequence of 7-inch singles during 2001 and 2002. NOFX later took a similar subscription-style route with its 7 Inch of the Month Club series. Across those projects and its core album releases, Fat Wreck Chords has remained closely tied to the direct, independent ethos of the San Francisco punk community.