 americana
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 The Offspring A friend once described The Offspring as The Scorpions of the '90s. And you know what? He was so right. The band purports to be punk rock (in a similar way it purported to be anti-corporate rock until ditching indie label Epitaph for the more lucrative Sony) but it's just not so. Which is not to say that punk can't be popular. Green Day and Bad Religion are two mega-selling acts that remain true to their roots. It's just that the Offspring's love for heavy metal vocals and power chords (albeit sped up) proves they were never punk to begin with.But besides the incongruous genre designation, Americana -- the Offspring's second chance at regaining their massive following after the surprise success of '94's Smash (11 million sold) and the more disappointing follow-up Ixnay on the Hombre - is a pretty good metal album. While nothing is as catchy as Self-Esteem or Come Out and Play, the album's first single Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) is wicked double-edged sword -- making fun of themselves and their frat fan base with the line: "The world needs wannabes/so do that brand new thing." The rest of the album is made up of (occasionally preachy) issue-oriented songs dealing with jail, relationships, death and the wasteland that is Americana culture. Except there is also a cool recontextualization of that old standard Feelings in the same vein as No Use For a Name's Redemption Song and The Cardigan's Iron Man. Who says irony is dead? By Joshua Ostroff, from Ottawa Sun - November 22, 1998 |
