Offspring - Ixnay On The Hombre (Columbia)
Rating: 5 (out of 10)

There's a cutesy, E-Z listening number plopped smack into the middle of the latest Offspring release. It's intended to provide a wimpy, milquetoast-y contrast to the more typical track which follows, the punk-quick "All I Want," thereby imbuing the latter with a rebellious, this-is-not-your-father's-Oldsmobile excitement.

This must be quite a declaration coming from the thirtysomething members of the Offspring; to them, Muzak represents a stodgy, corporate adulthood that deserves a symbolic blastaway. But most of the band's teenage fans were born in the '70s, with moms and dads who came of age listening to Hendrix, the Stones, or even the Sex Pistols-- post-Woodstock parents who plug their own ears in the dentist's waiting room.

The Offspring wouldn't dare try the above stunt with real grown-up music like Boston, though, because then the switch in tone would be near-impossible to pinpoint. Ixnay's production, by Dave Jerden (Jane's Addiction, Social Distortion), doesn't have a whit to do with anarchy or DIY-- it's smooth, mainstream rock and roll. ("Me & My Old Lady" is a near-clone of Jane's Addiction's "Had a Dad," which Jerden also produced, a controversial and innovative tune... the first time around.)

Sure, there's enough staccato drumming and disaffected lyrics to get that mosh pit into a counterclockwise whirl, but nothing here is punk in the slightest. Least of all is the slick musicianship, which is often constricted so tightly as to resemble a drill team.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with not being punk; a kid finding the genre shocking today seems as anachronistic as a '70s teen considering "At the Hop" a political statement. And what does one really expect from a band whose singer was a Ph.D candidate at the University of Southern California (not exactly a hotbed of rebellion and nonconformity)? If you really want to piss off mom and dad, there's always Marilyn Manson. The Offspring they'll probably like just fine.

By Mara Schwartz, from Allstar - February 1997