Offspring
Americana
Sony / Columbia

Say what you will about The Offspring, but I've always kinda taken a guilty pleasure in their hard-hitting, melodic SoCal sound. I confess-I can't get enough "wooah's" and "oozing-ahhs," and The Offspring always came through when Daddy needed a little sumptin' sumptin'.

On the other hand, Dexter's voice drives me nuts and he is capable of penning some truly shitty lyrics. I don't think I ever paid full price for an Offspring album. While in Canada I found their recent Ixnay On The Hombre tape in the used bin for a Two-nie (TOONIE?), which means I paid about $1.40 US. I think that funny talking, mullet-headed Canadian ripped me off.

Americana, their second effort on Sony/Columbia records, is the same exact album as Ixnay. On both albums, about half the tracks are complete shit. Don't buy Americana on tape, lest you wear out your fast-forward button.

I made a mix tape with the best songs from the two albums, and it drips with melodic sweetness, intersecting harmonies, palm-muted power chords, Gibson / Marshall stack chugga-chuggas and sing-along back-up vox. That's what Daddy likes: cheap thrills. No dippy mid-tempo tracks about dysfunctional relationships, no songs about dorky white guys; just glossy mid '90s punk rock, an aesthetic The Offspring has mastered.

This is what I'm hollerin': Don't judge the Offspring or Americana by the radio singles, especially that garbage, "Pretty Fly for A White Guy." Selectively sliding the needle makes Americana a pretty satisfying album.

With cover art by poster / album insert god Frank Kozick, and production by Dave Jerden, Americana is a slick package. Davey Havok from AFI and Jack Grisham of Joykiller / TSOL fame both lend their pipes for some background work, with Havok appearing prominently throughout his boss' record.

By Pete Geniella, from Synthesis