Offspring

Americana

AN UNPRETENTIOUS, INTELLIGENT PUNK-ROCK ALBUM

Review Score:

(8/10)
Anti-disestablishment heroes - well, these guys have to be commended for what they write. Rock music was always a product of the non-conformist. It doesn't matter whether you make sense or not, but as long as you speak against anything, you are a `rock' musician. Not that there is anything wrong in being `mean', but taking the attitude to blinding heights does wear off the charisma of being a leftist. On the other side, however, `rock' sounds its best, when it cries, or rather rants over something.

Now, if you are a hardcore `rocker', and are depressed of writing songs about depression, and being depressed, again and again and again, then what on earth do you do? Where on earth do you find your fuel to fire you into writing blazing tunes? Well, you need to be unhappy about something, to write unhappy songs about. In such a case, you write about `anti-disestablishment', and this is exactly what the boys of Offspring write. If rock sings for destruction, these guys sing for anti-destruction. This not necessarily means that they sing for construction; after all, they are rockers, too.

The Offspring is a very clever band. They write meaningful, sardonic lyrics that are not only cheekily written, but also well sung, amidst the wonderfully hard punk-rock music they make. AMERICANA is an album, full of sense and humor. Unlike other rock acts, they don't despair over how bad the world has been to them, but they laugh-out-loud over the things, which we so deliberately do wrong. Each song comes out with a new way of laughing over the frivolity and stupidity of mankind, and its `culture'.

The Offspring has a fantastic sense of humor. A few of AMERICANA's songs really make one laugh, with their oozing sarcasm, and the zest and the shamelessness with which the band presents them. "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", for instance, about a `white' wannabe in his search for `cool', with its absolutely hilarious lyrics is made more inane and laughable with the quirky sound effects, which the band has so seriously added. Also, plain rock songs like "She's Got Issues", about the plights of having a `girlfriend', and "Walla Walla", about a guy's perpetual love for stealing, are as sarcastic as the band can get; and who can forget the ingenuous "Why Don't You Get A Job?", with a `reggae' twist, just to keep life more interesting.
As clever as the band is, in being humorous, equally clever it is, in writing the more `serious' songs of AMERICANA. Again, they are not serious about how depressing their lives have been; they are serious about how life can go wrong. The opening track, "Have You Ever" is a straightforward song about the days or the period of time in life through which one passes during which nothing goes right for one. "The Kids Aren't Alright" is another hard-hitting song about how the youth can go absolutely wrong with their lives. Probably one of the best songs of the album, "Americana", which is about the pop culture of today, is a perfect example of The Offspring's anti-disestablishment attitude, in which Dexter Holland so aptly sings, "...now give me my cable, fast food, four-by's, that's right away, I want it right now `cause my generation don't like to wait".

With AMERICANA, and with The Offspring itself, it may seem as if punk has gone pop. This band may not be the hardcore antagonizing punk outfit, but this doesn't mean that it has no spunk at all. It knows exactly how to channelise its anger, and at the same time be sensible. Unlike a lot of other rock outfits, these guys are straightforward and unpretentious. AMERICANA is a clever, sarcastic, clean punk-rock album, and an excellent one.

More Reviews: