The Fat Club is a series of twelve 7-inch singles released monthly by Fat Wreck Chords from March 2001 to February 2002. 1,300 of each single were pressed; They were not available for sale individually, but were distributed by postal service to those who purchased a subscription to the series.
The series featured bands who had not previously been associated with the label: Of the 12 bands who participated, only three—NOFX, Swingin' Utters, and Strung Out—were already part of the Fat Wreck Chords roster. Three of the participating bands had other one-off releases with Fat following their participation in the Fat Club: MxPx's The Renaissance EP (2001), Randy's Randy the Band (2005), and Strike Anywhere's Dead FM (2006). Three of the bands—The Lawrence Arms, The Real McKenzies, and American Steel—became long-term additions to Fat Wreck Chords' roster, releasing multiple albums through the label in the years following. Only The Vandals, Enemy You, and One Man Army have had no further releases through Fat Wreck Chords.
Though the singles were limited, several of the bands re-released their tracks on compilation albums in the years following, including NOFX's 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records (2002), Strike Anywhere's To Live in Discontent (2005), The Lawrence Arms' Cocktails & Dreams (2005), Swingin' Utters' Hatest Grits: B-Sides and Bullshit (2008), and Strung Out's Prototypes and Painkillers (2009). All of the tracks from the series were re-released as part of the Fat Wreck Chords twentieth anniversary compilation Wrecktrospective in 2009.
Summary of releases CatalogBandRelease dateFAT205The VandalsApril 2001FAT202American SteelApril 2001FAT201The Real McKenziesMay 2001FAT208MxPxJune 2001FAT203Strike AnywhereJuly 2001FAT204RandyAugust 2001FAT209NOFXSeptember 2001FAT207Swingin' UttersOctober 2001FAT210Strung OutNovember 2001FAT206Enemy YouDecember 2001FAT211The Lawrence ArmsJanuary 2002FAT212One Man ArmyFebruary 2002
Track listings and personnel The Vandals
Joe Escalante – bass guitar, backing vocals Warren Fitzgerald – guitar, backing vocals Josh Freese – drums Dave Quackenbush – lead vocals
American Steel
Scott Healy – drums Rory Henderson – lead vocals, guitar Ryan Massey – guitar, backing vocals John Peck – bass guitar, backing vocals
The Real McKenzies
Mark Boland – guitar, backing vocals Gwomper – bass guitar Paul McKenzie – lead vocals Kurt Robertson – guitar, backing vocals Sean Sellers – drums Gord Taylor – Great Highland Bagpipe
MxPx
Mike Herrera – lead vocals, bass guitar Yuri Ruley – drums Tom Wisniewski – guitar Stephen Egerton – backing vocals on "You Hold the Key" Jerry Finn – producer, recording engineer, mix engineer
Strike Anywhere
Thomas Barnett – lead vocals Eric Kane – drums Garth Petrie – bass guitar Matt Sherwood – guitar, backing vocals Matt Smith – guitar, backing vocals
Randy
Johan Brändström – guitar, backing vocals Fredrik Granberg – drums Stefan Granberg – lead vocals, guitar Johan Gustafsson – bass guitar, backing vocals
NOFX
El Hefe – lead guitar, backing vocals Fat Mike – lead vocals, bass guitar Eric Melvin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Erik Sandin – drums
Swingin' Utters
Strung Out
Chris Aiken – bass guitar Jordan Burns – drums Jason Cruz – lead vocals Jake Kiley – guitar Rob Ramos – guitar
Enemy You
David Jones – lead vocals, guitar Chris Matulich – bass guitar Joe Yamazaki – drums Ken Yamazaki – guitar
The Lawrence Arms
Neil Hennessy – drums Brendan Kelly – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals Chris McCaughan – guitar, lead and backing vocals
One Man Army
References