Now in their fifties and nine years after the release of "Days Go By", The Offspring's fans had the right to wonder if this opus of the Californians would not be their last. And yet, against all odds, the Orange County natives release this year their tenth album, "Let The Bad Times Roll". The perfect occasion for Todd Morse, the new bassist of the band, to officially enter the band, he who replaced the original bassist Greg K in 2019.
So what can we expect from Offspring, almost 40 years after the band's creation? Well, simply Offspring! Nothing more, nothing less. In one second, the first track 'This Is No Utopia' shows that the punk behemoth hasn't aged, even if the voice of its singer Dexter Holland is inevitably a little bit deeper than in the past. The energy of yesteryear is intact, we recognize the riffs and the touch of the band between thousand.
The tracks follow one another and turn out to be all as good as each other. We find some ingredients reminding the past, like the drum rhythm of 'Breaking These Bones' which will revive the memory of 'Session' on "Ignition" (1992), or the excellent 'Hassan Chop' whose intensity reminds the title 'Da Hui' on "Splinter" (2003).
Of course, for a public in search of originality and innovation, "Let The Bad Times Roll" is not necessarily the album to recommend. Indeed, the quartet accumulates efficient and well written tracks with the same success as in the past. Impossible not to get a kick out of 'Behind Your Walls', both beautiful and great, or the bouncy chorus of 'Coming For You', incidentally already released as a single in 2015!
As often, we even find a little bit of madness, with surely THE track of the album, 'We Never Have Sex Anymore', simply excellent, which is not without reminding the offbeat side of 'OC Guns' on the previous album. The trumpet is back for our greatest pleasure and the feeling is there for an explosive cocktail. The Americans offer themselves the delirium of covering 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' of Edvard Grieg in one minute in the punk rock sauce, and we have to admit that the result is more than convincing. We feel the pleasure that the musicians have to meet again after all these years, and the freshness of the compositions is a pleasure to see.
The Offspring don't forget their roots at the end of the album and even dust off their old hit 'Gone Away' with a modern cover, gratifying us with a magnificent piano-voice version supported by an orchestra. 'Lullaby' closes the album with a more melancholic version of the chorus of "Let The Bad Times Roll", with a nuanced ending. The title being more of an outro than a full-fledged track, the album ends on a little frustration especially since it only lasts about thirty minutes.
This tenth opus could have been a comeback smelling like a marketing stunt like many legendary bands did, but it is not, fortunately! Released 15 or 20 years earlier, this album could even have been one of the band's best achievements. We hope now not to have to wait 9 years to listen to a new album...