November 17, 1998 - Americana

Eight days after my last release and a year and nine months since "Ixnay On The Hombre", The Offspring released their fifth album "Americana" on November 17, 1998. This is The Offspring's 2nd best album commercially (after "Smash" of course) but it was also really popular and spawned four singles, two of which became rock radio staples. Let's listen to the latest from these punk rockers!

The album begins with "Welcome", which is only nine seconds long and sounds like an answering machine. Then it's right into "Have You Ever" which has a typically fast and punk-y main riff with Noodles and Dexter Holland playing some decent guitar and Dexter singing a decent verse. They predictably jam out a couple verses and choruses and then things slow right down and Greg K. leads a new riff with some cool bass. This closing riff is pretty catchy and solid and Dexter's vocals sound pretty good as he sings this final new verse. Ton Welty's cymbal hits lead right into track 3, "Staring At The Sun" and after a slower first verse and chorus they crank up the speed nicely to regular Offspring levels. They quickly jam through the next verses and choruses and things sound nice and punk-y and pretty catchy for such a fast tune. The next track is arguably The Offspring's most famous and it's called "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)". The first thing we hear is a very weird voice speaking in another language and then we hear a couple women say "give it to me baby" followed by a pretty hilarious "uh-huh, uh-huh!" from Dexter and this is a very memorable opening that leads nicely into a pretty catchy chorus riff. After some poor Spanish counting Noodles plays some offbeat guitar while Dexter sings the catchy verse and it moves smoothly into the catchy chorus as Dexter continues to lead the way nicely. Welty's catchy little cow bell resets the whole thing and it's pretty hard not to like what's going on here. The lyrics are pretty funny and are about a white guy who things he's all gangster and tries too hard to fit in. It's a really catchy and likeable song and it's another megahit for these punk rockers. Track 5, "The Kids Aren't Alright", was also a pretty succesful single, just not as massive as the last song. Noodles leads the way with a pretty catchy and cool guitar riff and Holland plays a decent rhythm riff as well before starting up the fast-paced and catchy verse. Dexter holds lots of long notes in the chorus and things sound solid and very accessible, including some cool guitar between verses. Noodles even fires off a short guitar solo and it sounds pretty epic and fits the mood perfectly. Another well done single! Up next is "Feelings", a parody of the hit 70s song by Morris Albert, which seems a very odd choice! Of course it sounds nothing like the original and it sounds just like a typical Offspring song. The lyrics are partially the original ones, but mostly new ones by Dexter describing different feelings, "feelings like I wanna kill you... feelings like I wanna deck you". It's fairly amusing and the music is classic Offspring still, and Noodles plays another short but sweet guitar solo. They slow things down for a sort of half breakdown to finish things off and this seemed like a fun one for the guys to record. Track 7 is another pretty succesful single called "She's Got Issues" and it's got a much slower pace than most Offspring songs, but it's still plenty catchy with some cool bass, catchy drums and guitar and Dexter singing a nice verse to match the mood. This song is all about a crazy girlfriend, another relatable subject that's very accessible, and it's no surprise that this was a single. Despite it's simplicity, it's another catchy song that for a single is pretty solid indeed. The next track is "Walla Walla" and it has a very punk-y yet uplifting main riff that is pretty cool. It's hard not to toe tap along with this catchy tune which is all about going to prison! The shouting chorus is solid and Dexter talks in a funny break in the middle: "I didn't do it! He gave it to me as a gift, this is bullshit!" It's another pretty catchy and solid song! Track 9 is "The End Of The Line" and it has a typically fast main riff but Dexter's verse is oddly fairly unexciting. The chorus is pretty repetitive as well and I guess it is possible for these guys to lag a little bit. It's not bad by any means, but it just doesn't have the same excitement as most of the songs on this album. Up next is "No Brakes" and Dexter sounds more energetic and more like his usual self again. The music is nice and fast and Welty plays some pretty quick drums in this short song that's just a quick two minutes. Track 11 is the other megahit off this album "Why Don't You Get A Job?" and Dexter opens the song by singing "my friend's got a girlfriend and he hates that bitch. He tells me every day". More relatable relationship subject matter that is once again very accessible and the laid-back main riff is not your typical Offspring, but things sound good still and very catchy indeed, especially the chorus, which is hard not to sing along with. The acoustic guitar and the horns are definitely not what you'd expect, but it's another expertly done single that you just can't not like! After the song seems over, we hear an old woman say "hey that's something everyone can enjoy" and she's not wrong! The next track is the title track "Americana" and Welty starts us off with some catchy drums followed by a pretty epic guitar riff by Noodles. After almost a minute of this epic intro things shift nicely to a more typical Offspring main riff. Dexter sounds pretty epic on this one and I love his "well fuck you!" that bridges the verse and the chorus. It's another pretty cool tune! The last track on the album is "Pay The Man" and it's over ten minutes long, an eternity for these guys! It starts with some almost sitar-ish guitar that sounds interesting and Welty lays down a nice quiet drum beat that fits the vibe perfectly. Noodles adds some cool lead guitar and this is another example of The Offspring leaving their comfort zone, but sounding pretty solid doing it. After a couple minutes the vocals finally start and Dexter's singing in this part is actually not that great in an unusual turn and this part goes on for a couple minutes (too long). Then they shift the mood nicely into an upbeat and pretty cool guitar riff and this part sounds way better with some much better vocals and some solid acoustic and electric guitars. This song ends at the 8:10 mark and after just over a minute of silence we get a short bonus song titled "Pretty Fly (Reprise)", which is a minute-long mariachi version of "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)". It sounds pretty hilarious, and I actually like the trumpet! A fun way to finish things off.

That is the end of "Americana" and I thought it was a pretty solid album! The Offspring play lots of solid punk-rock music and even when they decide to shake things up, they have great results and even hugely popular singles! There was nothing that made your jaw drop with amazement really, but there were virtually no weak points the whole way through. I think it's easily better than their last album "Ixnay On The Hombre", which wasn't a bad album itself, and it even comes close to "Smash"! But a close second is where it will stay, which is nothing to sneeze at! These guys seem to be in their prime!