Rancid And Out Come The Wolves

Transitional punk albums are an interesting lot. Punk bands make changes in their sound for varied reasons. For example, the Clash's roots were in typical British rock, and their personal interest in reggae and dub led them to a musical transformation; a fusion of political music forms (punk and reggae). London Calling and Sandinista try to expand to new fields, and succeed. For Rancid's third release, And Out Come The Wolves, the band's goal is 180 degrees away from fusi>

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new album returns to the roots of Rancid's nucleus, Tim Armstrong (Lint) and Matt Freeman (Matt McCall), who have been playing together for eight years. The two began in the little-known East Bay punk Basic Radio, and formed the seminal punk/ska band Operation Ivy in mid-1987. In OpIvy, Tim shared vocals with Jesse (no last name), who went on to join the Lookout! Records punk act Big Rig. Anything by Operation Ivy matches or surpasses Rancid's ferocity and liveliness. OpIvy lyrically promoted unity and fought ignorance among the East Bay punk community (Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville - San Francisco's a whole different story). OpIvy's exciting lyrics combined with their incredibly tight sound, whether skanking low to the ska grooves or punking out full speed ahead, turned a generation of Bay Area teenagers onto punk rock in the late 80s, myself included. After discovering the likes of OpIvy, the Clash, Killing Joke, the Ramones, and the Sex Pistols, sixth grade turned out to be a fun year.

Operation Ivy called it quits in 1990, and could have made it as big (or bigger) than their pop-punk cohorts Green Day. After OpIvy, Armstrong and Freeman and drummer Dave Mello played in Downfall, another East Bay punk band. Rancid's line-up was solidified when drummer Brett Reed and former UK Subs guitarist Lars Frederiksen were recruited in late '91. They released two Epitaph (the big SoCal punk label) LP's, Rancid ('92) and Let's Go ('93) to high punk praises and decent sales marks. Rancid's radio airplay, combined with the rising popularity of Epitaph acts the Offspring and Bad Religion pushed shit-kicking punk onto the MTV airwaves in the summer of 1994. The excellent "Salvation" video was followed by the "Roots Radicals" single and video. "Roots Radicals" was even included on AOCTW, which brings us to the first side of the album.

AOCTW opens up with "Maxwell Murder," a two-minute Jolt-induced back-alley crime story. "11th Hour" is a mellower punk tune, but the boys aren't losing their edge yet. Boots start flying again when "Roots Radicals" kicks in. "Junkyman" is one of the album's hookiest punk tunes, very reminiscent of a faster, stoned, "Death or Glory" with a spoken word bit. The album isn't nearly as overproduced as recent efforts by NOFX and The Offspring, and (lazily) harmonized singalongs like "Ruby Soho" show the band in peak form. The album's first single is the chugging ska number "Time Bomb". Watch for the video, featuring the boys in garb eerily similar to that of the Clash in 1978.

If skanking is your preferred style of dance, check out the OpIvy-style ska grooves "Daly City Train" or "Old Friend;" the latter arguably the best tune on the album. The former's interesting narrative lyrics are offset by weak vocals. Armstrong asks the Daly City BART train (one of the world's shittiest places to be at 1 am), "Daly city train have your ever seen an angel? Well I know I have; they'll stay here for a while and then fly away." These dudes have spent their formative years in the hood, and continue to live there today. In a recent Details interview, Armstrong admitted that nine punk kids still crash on his floor.

Lately, the punk scene has become regionalized, so when NOFX sings about Orange County and the Ramones bitch about New Yawk City, Rancid put their two cents in about the East Bay. Where will they go from here? Hopefully, Rancid will keep up their new intelligent combination - not fusion -of punk and ska. Simply put, the album kicks ass. If you buy this album, try and pick it up on vinyl. It's cheaper than the CD, and real punks have record players.