REVIEW: The Offspring, Americana (Columbia)
- Jason Cahill
Back in the late eighties and early nineties, The Offspring were at the forefront of the Orange County punk scene. When Epitaph released The Offspring's second full length album, Ignition in 1992, the band joined NOFX and Rancid as keepers of the Southern California punk flame. Ignition was then followed by Smash which, thanks in large part to the breakthrough single "Come Out And Play", sold in excess of 9 million copies. Despite their surprising success, The Offspring stuck with the formula that had worked for them and countless other punk bands before them - brief, but explosive songs rich in melodies and smart-ass lyrics, yet lacking in complexity.
Things changed with The Offspring's first release on Columbia Records. Ixnay On The Hombre was a departure of sorts for the band - mature, intricate song structures coupled with The Offspring's brand of irony and fast paced energy. The album showcased a band in flux, a band willing to adapt and grow with a changing musical environment. Of course, once a band begins to show promise and maturity, expectations begin to arise. Great bands rise to the occasion and follow up a truly great effort with something even better, a classic - Paul's Boutique as a follow-up to Licensed To Ill quickly comes to mind. But while Ixnay On The Hombre will forever remain a truly great effort, The Offspring's follow-up to that album and their most recent effort, Americana, is nothing short of a major disappointment. With Americana the band seems to have taken a step in the wrong direction, having all but forgotten the musical strides they so recently made.
Basically, Americana is a one-note album that loses its charm all too quickly. The songs each adhere to The Offspring's old school formula of high velocity, in and out music. But, what worked for The Offspring back in the glory days of the southern California punk scene now seems stale and repetitive. The album's first single, "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", sounds like a Presidents of the United States of America throwaway, complete with its smug, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and simplistic tone. "Staring At The Sun" is symptomatic of the majority of the album's problems - a generic and overly basic song, blindly adhering to every tenet of the so-called punk music formula. "Why Don't You Just Get A Job?" should be dismissed as nothing more than a carbon copy of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and the band's parody of the 70's classic "Feelings" is without humor.
When the band breaks from its constrictive formula, however, the results are often exciting. "Have You Ever" and "The Kids Aren't Alright" utilize complex song structures and harmonies, creating a more resonant and mature sound. In fact, the album's brief flashes of brilliance remind us of The Offspring's potential to bring its California punk style to the next level. That said, Americana is nothing more than wasted potential.
