ALBUM REVIEW | THE OFFSPRING – SUPERCHARGED by Craig Harston

It’s been 30 years since The Offspring released their seminal album, Smash, which ushered in a new era of punk rock along with contemporaries Bad Religion (Stranger Than Fiction), Green Day (Dookie), NOFX (Punk In Drublic) and Rancid (Let’s Go). Since then, they’ve gradually moved away from the skate punk sound they cultivated in the 90s, arguably beginning with 1998’s single ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)‘ and while they still wear their punk rock hearts on their sleeves, playing festivals such as Punk In The Park and Slam Dunk Festival, they now have more of all around rock aesthetic, and at this stage they have for quite a while. So it’s unfair to measure them against their 90s heyday when it’s now over 2 decades ago. Having said that, Supercharged is yet another middling effort from the SoCal legends (Dexter Holland, Noodles, Todd Morse, Brandon Pertzborne and Jonah Nimoy).

As usual with a new Offspring album, there’s at least one questionable track on the album (think ‘Original Prankster‘, ‘Hit That‘ or ‘We Never Have Sex Anymore‘) – on Supercharged, there’s two! While it’s heart is in the right place, answering calls the band often get on social media to visit the titular country, single ‘Come To Brazil‘ mostly fails due to it’s use of a football chant in it’s closing moments but it’s choruses are also a slog to get through with Holland repeating “Come To Brazil” in an almost droning voice. ‘Make It Alright‘ seems like the band trying their hand at a summery Beach Boys type song but it doesn’t quite stick the landing. While the choruses are fun with their “Ba-da-da’s”, the weirdly digital sounding “All I Want To Do Is Fly Away With You” bring the song down.

For those expecting something a little more old school, there are a few songs to like here. ‘Light It Up‘ wouldn’t seem out of place on one of their earlier albums, with plenty of woahs and a great breakdown, ‘Truth In Fiction‘ is a superfast skate punk track that sounds like the Offspring are channelling Bad Religion (in the best way possible) and clocks in at exactly two minutes, while ‘The Fall Guy‘ moves along at a fair clip with it’s chugging guitars. ‘Get Some‘ is an energetic rock song with a great guitar riff throughout, arguably Hollands best vocals on the album (“Ye-ah, ye-ah, come on and get some!”) and some infectious “woo-hoo’s”!

Unfortunately, while the rest of the album couldn’t necessarily be called bad, it’s all a bit forgettable. Musically, The Offspring are as tight as they’ve ever been, and while they claim they “wanted this record to have pure energy from the start to the finish” (hence Supercharged as the title), they largely sound like they’re going through the motions.

Supercharged is out now via Concord Records.

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Craig Harston

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