Three of the post-Nirvana punk heroes have returned with albums this year, each choosing decidedly different paths. On Warning, Green Day has looked to age gracefully by continuing to move its music beyond its neo-Brit-punk roots toward a classic guitar-pop style. Rancid, meanwhile, opted to retreat as quickly as possible from any sort of mainstream success it scored in the '90s with its stripped-down, keeping-it-real self-titled fifth album. But one listen to "Original Prankster," the first single off Offspring's sixth album, Conspiracy Of One, suggests that the Offspring are mostly interested in how a finely tuned presentation of a few overdriven chords and an attitude can keep the suburban kids happy and headed toward the record store.

You can hear it nearly in its first notes. "Original Prankster" uses the same blueprint--loopy guitar signatures, a wacky vocal slogan--that made for smirky success on past tunes like the snake-charmer-ish "Come Out And Play," and the flippant "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)." A perfectly entertaining song, and one that should offer some relief amid the interminable Bizkit-ization of rock radio, but one definitely with a been-there/done-that feel.

Much of Conspiracy treads along similarly retread lines. Musically, it's mostly the same ol' Orange County punk with mersh-metal polish while lyrically it's surface-level exclamations of angst, dissolution, heartbreak, blah blah blah. Yes, there are moments of inspiration--"Want You Bad" is hooky powerpop that yearns for a good girl to go bad ("I want you in a vinyl suit, I want you bad"), while "One Fine Day" could be a rallying cry for beer-swilling hooligans everywhere. And there's some undeniably great absurdity in "Special Delivery," where the group samples the oohgah-chuggahs from the '70s novelty hit, "Hooked On A Feeling."

But ultimately, the writing is on the wall. The Offspring are interested in distilled punk-by-numbers, and are hardly interested in--or perhaps incapable of--finding something new to say. Not very fly at all.

Editor's rating on this album: 55 (out of 100)

By Neal Weiss, from Launch - November, 2000