The Offspring,
Americana, Clumbia Records

If your looking to take a trip to Orange County without dealing with all of the rush hour traffic on the beloved 405 freeway, I suggest you tune into The Offspring’s 'Americana.' This record is a silly look at American life from the eyes of one of the country’s most popular pop acts. While Dexter Holland really can’t sing to save his life, the band is so well produced featuring tasty guitar tones, compellingly compressed vocals and sing-songy lyrics, it makes 'Americana' fun to listen to.

The Offspring are obviously influenced by the Sex Pistols as much as they are by Def Leppard. Their sense of humor makes The Offspring’s often heavy topics like gang violence, whacked out teenage relationships and other assorted Jerry Springer Show themes, tolerable. Their single "Pretty Fly (for a white guy)" takes a realistic view of the copy cat mentality bred by today’s media and how it effects society.

If you don’t take The Offspring too seriously, you will find them to be a loud, punky, pop vacation straight to Huntington Beach. Without the production and mixing by Dave Jerden, this record would have not made the grade, but because of a good sense of humor, a great sound, lots of energy and catchy hooks, The Offspring have received quite a few spins in my CD player.

Audio Revolution's rating on this album:
Performance: 6.5
Sound: 8

By Jerry Del Colliano, from Audio Revolution