The Offspring - 'Days Go By' Review

Appropriately released right before the Fourth of July holiday, the Offspring’s Days Go By is a perfect summer record. Breezy, peppy and inconsequential, these 12 tracks from the veteran Southern California punk band exude a warm nostalgia for 1990s alt-rock without feeling too slavishly indebted to that bygone era.

Like Blink-182, the Offspring benefited greatly from the punk-pop revival launched by Green Day in the mid-‘90s. Sporting bratty vocals and infectious melodies that married punk, rock and ska, the quartet -- led by frontman Dexter Holland -- produced huge hits like “Come Out and Play” and “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy).” Except for some turnover when it comes to their drummer, the Offspring have maintained basically the same lineup for almost 20 years, and while they don’t remain quite as popular as in their ‘90s prime, they’ve continued being a presence on modern rock radio. Perhaps not surprisingly, then, Days Go By is the sound of old pros revving up one more time. There’s a comforting familiarity in their snarling discontent, and their insistence on hooky choruses rarely fails them.

As would be expected from graying alt-rockers, the Offspring spend a decent portion of Days Go By looking backward while at the same time trying to keep up with the young kids. The Offspring prove more adept at handling the former. The mid-tempo love song “All I Have Left Is You” and the radio-ready title track are rousing salutes, respectively, to a reliable lover and letting the disappointments of the past go. These tracks -- along with “Dirty Magic,” a redo of a song from the band’s 1992 disc, Ignition -- seem weighed down by memories, but not in a bad way. Rather, Holland fights through the angst with a nasally singing style that sounds like a raised middle finger, while his bandmates powerfully negotiate the compact, tuneful arrangements. It’s striking that even at the end of the album, the Offspring are paying homage to the past: The closing track, “Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell,” is a cheeky reference to the apocalyptic finale of the 1964 black comedy Dr. Strangelove.

Far less successful is the Offspring’s awkward attempts at relevance or edginess. “Cruising California (Bumpin’ in My Trunk)” is an unabashed stab at Katy Perry-style pop, and while it’s superficially catchy, the song is so disposable and calculated that it never ignites like one would hope. Likewise, “OC Guns” tries for an old-school ska vibe, but it comes out sounding like third-rate Sublime. The Offspring have never been a particularly deep group, so song for song they need to make sure their material is airtight. By that metric, Days Go By has a pretty decent batting average, although its hit-or-miss quality makes it more enjoyable background music than an album one needs to focus on intently.

Produced by Bob Rock, a man who knows how to maximize a band’s sound, as witnessed by his work on Metallica’s Black Album, Days Go By hits you with an immediacy without necessarily revealing extra levels on repeated listening. The Offspring’s prankster spirit remains intact on tongue-in-cheek love songs like “I Wanna Secret Family (With You),” but on the whole their new record finds these lovable dorks easing into respectable middle age. Even after all this time, all they really want their fans to do is come out and play.

'Days Go By' - Best Tracks:

“All I Have Left Is You” (Purchase/Download)
“The Future Is Now” (Purchase/Download)
“Days Go By” (Purchase/Download)
“Dirty Magic” (Purchase/Download)
“I Wanna Secret Family (With You)” (Purchase/Download)

Release date – June 26, 2012
Columbia