View source for Fat Wreck Chords

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{short description|American independent record label}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox record label
| name        = Fat Wreck Chords
| image       = FatWrechChordsLogo.jpg
| image_size  = 200
| parent      = [[Hopeless Records]]
| founded     = {{sda|1990}}
| founder     = [[Fat Mike]] & Erin Burkett
| distributor = [[The Orchard (company)|The Orchard]] (US)<br />[[PIAS Entertainment Group|PIAS]] (Europe)<br />[[E1 Entertainment Distribution|eOne Music]] (Worldwide)
| country     = United States
| location    = [[San Francisco, California]]
| website     = {{url|fatwreck.com}}
| genre       = [[Punk rock]]
}}

'''Fat Wreck Chords''' (pronounced "Fat Records") is an [[independent record label]] based in [[San Francisco]] focused on [[punk rock]]. It was started by [[NOFX]] lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as [[Fat Mike]]) and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett in 1990.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2015-08-04 |title=Gaining Weight — The Rise of Fat Wreck Chords As One Of The Last Great Punk Indies |url=http://blog.bandcamp.com/2015/08/04/gaining-weight-the-rise-of-fat-wreck-chords-as-one-of-the-last-great-punk-indies/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807015631/http://blog.bandcamp.com/2015/08/04/gaining-weight-the-rise-of-fat-wreck-chords-as-one-of-the-last-great-punk-indies/ |archive-date=2015-08-07 |access-date=2025-09-28 |work=The Bandcamp Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> As of 2009, Fat Wreck Chords released over 300 studio albums.<ref name=":0" />

==History==

Fat Mike started his record label Wassail Records in 1987. He put out two NOFX records, The PMRC 7” in 1987 and Liberal Animation in 1988. In 1990, he and his wife Erin Burkett co-founded Fat Wreck Chords, and re-released NOFX's 1987 EP, [[The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This|The P.M.R.C Can Suck on This]]. In 1992, Fat Mike went on to produce [[Lagwagon]], [[Propagandhi]], and [[No Use for a Name]]. In 1993, the label released records by [[Rancid (band)|Rancid]], [[Face to Face (punk band)|Face to Face]], and [[Strung Out]].

The label grew during the 1990s selling over a million records per year. It had 18 employees and four offices.{{r|bandcamp2015}} A documentary about Fat Wreck Chords called ''A Fat Wreck'' was released on October 25, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afatwreck.com/ |title=A Film Project about Fat Wreck Chords |publisher=A Fat Wreck |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

In 2025, the back catalog and operations of the record label were sold to [[Hopeless Records]], with Fat Mike and Erin retaining ownership of the trademarks which are licensed to Hopeless for physical and digital releases.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Punknews.org |date=2025-07-09 |title=Interviews: Fat Wreck Sells catalog to Hopeless, pays off Artist debt, keeps Fat TM for future projects |url=https://www.punknews.org/article/85994/interviews-fat-wreck-sells-catalog-to-hopeless-pays-off-artist-debt-keeps-fat-tm-for-future-projects |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=www.punknews.org |language=en}}</ref>

==Imprints==
The label has had two subsidiaries over the years, [[Honest Don's Records|Honest Don's]] and [[Pink and Black Records|Pink and Black]]. Honest Don's released records from [[Chixdiggit]] and [[Teen Idols]] amongst others, while Pink & Black released albums from female-fronted bands like [[Fabulous Disaster (band)|Fabulous Disaster]] and [[Dance Hall Crashers]].

Fat Mike advanced $50,000 to Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky of [[Propagandhi]] which he recouped within months from sales of Propagandhi records to help them start up their own label, [[G7 Welcoming Committee]],{{r|"APM interview"}} though G7WC is independent from Fat Wreck.

==Discography==
{{Main|Fat Wreck Chords discography}}

===Compilation albums===
{{Main|Fat Music}}
Fat Wreck Chords regularly releases compilation albums, often to promote bands signed to the label, but also, since 2003, to raise funds for various charities. The earliest Fat Wreck Chords compilations have titles with some reference to fatness.

Shortly after ''Fat Music Volume IV'' was released, Fat Wreck Chords released a similarly titled album, ''[[Short Music for Short People]]'', which features 101 songs, all averaging approximately 30 seconds. The shortest song ("Short Attention Span" by the Fizzy Bangers) is only eight seconds, and the longest ("Out of Hand" by [[Bad Religion]]) is 40 seconds. Some of the songs were commissioned and recorded specifically for the album, while others were from the bands' pre-existing repertoires.

Since the last ''Fat Music'' album has been released, the Fat Wreck Chords compilations have been explicitly for charitable causes. ''[[Liberation: Songs to Benefit PETA]]'' is a [[benefit album]] for the [[animal rights]] organization [[PETA]], and ''[[PROTECT: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children]]'' is a benefit album for the [[children's rights]] group [[Protect (political organization)|PROTECT]]. Between ''Liberation'' and ''PROTECT'', two other compilation albums were released in protest of President [[George W. Bush]] and [[Presidency of George W. Bush|his administration]]: ''[[Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1]]'' and ''[[Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2|Vol. 2]]''. To celebrate 20 years of business Fat Wreck Chords released the 3-disc ''Wrecktrospective'' compilation on December 8, 2009. Disc 1 is composed of the label's greatest hits, disc 2 is composed of unreleased demos and rarities, and disc 3 is composed the Fat Club 7" series in its entirety.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fatwreck.com/record/detail/700 |title=Records: Fat Wreck Chords |publisher=Fatwreck.com |date=2009-12-08 |access-date=2012-10-17}}</ref>

===Album series===
====Live in a Dive====
''Live in a Dive'' is a series of [[live album]]s recorded by Fat Wreck Chords.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fatwreck.com/search?query=live+in+a+dive |title=New "Strung Out" MP3 & 'NOFX' Coaster track list |publisher=Fatwreck.com |access-date=2015-08-26}}</ref> In order of release:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Artist
!Release date
|-
|''[[Live in a Dive (No Use for a Name album)|Live in a Dive]]''
|[[No Use for a Name]]
|September 11, 2001
|-
|''[[Live in a Dive (Bracket album)|Live in a Dive]]''
|[[Bracket (band)|Bracket]]
|February 26, 2002
|-
|''[[Live in a Dive (Sick of It All album)|Live in a Dive]]''
|[[Sick of It All]]
|August 13, 2002
|-
|''[[Live in a Dive (Strung Out album)|Live in a Dive]]''
|[[Strung Out]]
|June 22, 2003
|-
|''Live in a Dive''
|[[Subhumans (British band)|Subhumans]]
|February 10, 2004
|-
|''[[Live in a Dive (Swingin' Utters album)|Live in a Dive]]''
|[[Swingin' Utters]]
|June 29, 2004
|-
|''[[Live in a Dive (Lagwagon album)|Live in a Dive]]''
|[[Lagwagon]]
|February 8, 2005
|-
|''[[Ribbed: Live in a Dive]]''
|[[NOFX]]
|August 3, 2018
|-
|[[Live in a Dive (Face to Face album)|''Live in a Dive'']]
|[[Face to Face (punk band)|Face to Face]]
|October 18, 2019
|-
|''Live in a Dive''
|[[Rich Kids on LSD]]
|June 3, 2022
|}

===Fat Club Series===
{{Main|Fat Club}}
In addition to the Live in a Dive series, Fat Wreck Chords also released the Fat Club series of 7" vinyl records during 2001. The series was only available to mail-order subscribers which received one single every month. Fat Wreck Chords did not publish any information on the upcoming releases so subscribers would not know what they were about to receive until the record arrived in the post.

Although the Fat club series was limited to 1,300 copies for each single, the songs contained on the records were later released as the third disc of the [[Wrecktrospective]] collection.

==Artists==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2025}}

===Current bands===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Against Me!]]
* [[American Steel]]
* [[Bad Astronaut]]
* [[Bad Cop/Bad Cop]]
* [[Banner Pilot]]
* [[The Bombpops]]
* [[Bracket (band)|Bracket]]
* [[Chixdiggit!]]
* [[Cigar (band)|Cigar]]
* [[Clowns (band)|Clowns]]
* [[The Copyrights]]
* [[C. J. Ramone|C.J. Ramone]]
* Darius Koski
* [[Days N' Daze]]
* [[Dead to Me (band)|Dead to Me]]
* [[Dillinger Four]]
* [[Direct Hit (band)|Direct Hit]]
* Escape from the Zoo
* [[Face To Face (punk band)|Face To Face]]
* [[Frenzal Rhomb]]
* [[Get Dead]]
* [[Good Riddance (band)|Good Riddance]]
* [[Hi-Standard]]
* [[Joey Cape]]
* [[Lagwagon]]
* [[The Last Gang (band)|The Last Gang]]
* [[The Lillingtons]]
* MakeWar
* [[Me First and the Gimme Gimmes]]
* [[Mean Jeans]]
* Night Birds
* [[PEARS]]
* [[The Real McKenzies]]
* [[ Rich Kids on LSD]] (''Live in a Dive'' only)
* [[Sick of It All]] (in North America, [[Century Media Records]] in Europe)
* [[Snuff (British band)|Snuff]]
* [[Strung Out]]
* [[Sundowner (band)|Sundowner]]
* [[Swingin' Utters]]
* Tommy and June
* ToyGuitar
* [[Uke-Hunt]]
* [[Useless ID]]
* [[Western Addiction]]
* Zach Quinn
{{div col end}}

===Former bands===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[88 Fingers Louie]]
* [[Anti-Flag]] (disbanded)
* [[The Ataris]] (one-time release for the follow up album in 1999) 
* [[Avail]]
* Big In Japan
* [[Bullet Treatment]]
* [[Citizen Fish]]
* [[Cobra Skulls]]
* [[Consumed (band)|Consumed]]
* [[Descendents (band)|Descendents]]
* [[The Dickies]]
* [[Diesel Boy]]
* [[Epoxies]] (disbanded)
* [[The Fight (band)|The Fight]] (disbanded)
* [[The Flatliners]]
* Goober Patrol
* [[Guns n' Wankers]]
* [[Inspection 12]]
* [[Leftöver Crack]]
* [[Less Than Jake]] (active on [[Pure Noise Records]])
* [[The Lawrence Arms]] (active on [[Epitaph Records]])
* [[The Loved Ones (American band)|The Loved Ones]]
* [[Love Equals Death]] (active on SBÄM Records)
* [[Mad Caddies]] (active on SBÄM Records)
* [[Masked Intruder]] (active on [[Pure Noise Records]])
* [[Morning Glory (band)|Morning Glory]]
* [[MxPx]] (one-time EP release) 
* [[Nerf Herder]]
* [[Night Birds (band)|Night Birds]] (disbanded)
* [[NOFX]] (disbanded)
* [[No Use for a Name]] (disbanded)
* [[None More Black]]
* [[Old Man Markley]]
* [[Only Crime]]
* [[One Man Army (band)| One Man Army]] (tribute to Heiko Schrepel on Fat Wreck website only) (Frontman in another group on label) (disbanded)
* [[Paint It Black (band)|Paint It Black]] (active on [[Revelation Records]])
* [[Pour Habit]]
* [[Propagandhi]] (active on [[Epitaph Records]])
* [[Rancid (band)|Rancid]] (active on [[Hellcat Records]])
* [[Rise Against]] (active on [[Loma Vista Recordings]])
* [[Riverdales]] 
* [[The Sainte Catherines]]
* [[Screeching Weasel]]
* [[Screw 32]]
* [[Shay Colston and the Couch Collectors]]
* [[Smoke or Fire]] (active on [[Iodine Recordings]])
* [[The Soviettes]] (disbanded)
* [[Star Fucking Hipsters]]
* [[Strike Anywhere]]
* [[Subhumans (British band)|Subhumans]]
* [[Teenage Bottlerocket]] (active on [[Pirates Press Records]])
* [[The Suicide Machines]] (active on Bad Time Records)
* [[The Vandals]] (Active on [[Kung Fu Records]])
* [[Tilt (American band)|Tilt]]
* [[Tony Sly]]
* [[Wizo]]
* [[Zero Down]] (disbanded)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[List of record labels]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="APM interview">{{cite news
 |first=Steven 
 |last=Robertshaw 
 |title=NOFX: The State of Punk to Come 
 |url=http://www.altpress.com/features/14.htm 
 |work=Alternative Press Magazine 
 |date=2005-10-13 
 |access-date=2008-02-26 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208171508/http://altpress.com/features/14.htm 
 |archive-date=2008-02-08 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref>

<ref name=bandcamp2015>{{cite web|title=Gaining Weight — The Rise of Fat Wreck Chords As One Of The Last Great Punk Indies|url=http://blog.bandcamp.com/2015/08/04/gaining-weight-the-rise-of-fat-wreck-chords-as-one-of-the-last-great-punk-indies/|publisher=Bandcamp|access-date=6 August 2015|archive-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807015631/http://blog.bandcamp.com/2015/08/04/gaining-weight-the-rise-of-fat-wreck-chords-as-one-of-the-last-great-punk-indies/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}

{{Fat Wreck Chords|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Fat Wreck Chords| ]]
[[Category:Punk record labels]]
[[Category:Pop punk record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1990]]
[[Category:Companies based in San Francisco]]
[[Category:1990 establishments in California]]
[[Category:American independent record labels]]