Days Go By – The Offspring
It’s been awhile since The Offspring has put out a new album. Time after time it seems like the extremely successful pop punk rock act always come up with something new or change things around to give their music a little twist while retaining that old sound that makes them The Offspring.
Their new release Days Go By is no exception to what they’ve been doing in the past. It has all the glam that you’d expect from The Offspring, with a little bit of something you’re really going to like and quite possible a few things that just don’t go so well. But that’s to be expected. It doesn’t make the album bad, but everyone is entitled to his or her own preference.
“The Future Is Now” starts off Days Go By with a familiar sound that just screams at you like every Offspring song usually does. Could this really be the future of The Offspring? It has the feel of The Offspring, it sounds just like The Offspring; so what’s different you might ask? What makes it the future of The Offspring? Well, it just seems different and a little bit more grown up from previous albums. Chanting, “the future is now” and “the future is here” throughout the song is a catchy opening to an album that might catch you off guard.
“Secrets from the Underground” might startle you a bit. Although it has the rasp of The Offspring, it is accented with a kind of peppiness to it. It moves right along with the pace of the album and the song flies by like nobodies business, but it just seems a little different than something you’d hear out of The Offspring.
Ahh the title track. Days Go By does have a title track and it’s a rather good one. It has a little less punk than the older hits The Offspring has put out, but it definitely is a title track and single. When I first heard it, it felt like it had a bit of The Cult’s style injected into the into and lead guitar riff and forced me to think that Ian Astbury’s vocals were going to pop in at any second. They didn’t though, thankfully. That wouldn’t be very Offspringish, but might be a cool joke to play. Anyway this fast paced track that bears the great name of The Offspring’s ninth album release gets me going and makes me reflect on the days that have gone by over the years of releases and changes. It sounds like The Offspring had a recent revival which added a ton of fuel to the Days Go By fire.
“OC Guns” also threw me off until I thought about it. This song is something The Offspring would do. It’s so well done that I just had to laugh and enjoy it even more. Between “OC Guns” and “Days Go By” it’s one of my go to songs for Days Go By. I just can’t get enough of it.
The same can be said for “Cruising California.” The Offspring never fails to bring me the crude humor that I’ve come to expect from them and they do it with some very simple by extremely memorable music.
In all The Offspring’s years they’ve come up with a very distinct sound that some might say makes their music sound the same. Sure, their music does have a bit of the same taste used over an over, but they’re not trying to make a hundred different symphonies here Their music is fast paced, funny, crude, and music that pumps you up. It’s punk, it’s pop, it’s rock. The Offspring is here to have fun.
“Dividing By Zero” almost wraps up the new album with something you’d probably hear on an earlier album if it weren’t on Days Go By. Leading into “Slim Pickens Does the Right thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell” does a great job of ending this awesome album with hints at current events and symbolically shows the human race going down in flames as we “pouring gasoline…dancing around the fire that we once believed in,” “give it up to the champions of greed,” and of course they couldn’t end it there… “dance fucker dance, let the motherfucker burn.” Ahh yes, The Offspring never cease to amaze me.
Times have changed and The Offspring have obviously changed with them. Though the changes are for the better and add a fresh new angle to Days Go By The Offspring still retains the faithful and unmistakable sound that makes them who they are.
Personally, I thought this album was really good. It’s got a permanent spot on my iPad and I’ll probably play the hell out of it for some time.
In support of Days Go By, The Offspring will be going on tour. Catch them on one of their many tour dates, or right here in Milwaukee at the Eagles Ballroom on July 21st and I promise it will be a good time.
Days Go By – The Offspring 4/5 stars Favorite Track: OC Guns
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