Is it? I'm not overly familiar with how the distinctions between subgenres break down in this arena, but in addition to the fast, brutal songs, there are a handful of more measured, melodic, pop-oriented tracks too ("Let Me Go," "Radio Havana," "It's Quite Alright," "Antennas"). It's a good blend, and the brevity of the songs works to its overall advantage.theplatypus wrote:I'm surprised by this. I would imagine that 2000 album would be completely outside your sphere of interest. That's pretty much a straight-up hardcore album.Kevin Davis wrote:My favorite Rancid song might be "Antennas" from the 2000 album. I love the contrast between the punky verses and spacious, melodic choruses -- all in 1.5 minutes or less!
That said, I don't love every song on the album, and my interest usually wanes about 2/3 of the way through it. I also think that genre-oriented distinctions fade away a bit when I'm listening to a band whose sonic elements and conventions I've already accepted. Despite completely missing "Life Won't Wait" for some reason, I knew "Wolves" like the back of my hand by the time this album had come out, and those familiar elements can help sugar the pill. This wasn't "some random new album with a bunch of yelling and screaming and stuff I don't like"; it was the new Rancid album. I feel like over the years on RM I've read people (probably Stip) getting chided for praising certain styles of music when performed by Pearl Jam yet failing to connect with the rawer, more authentic bands in that genre, which always struck me as unfair; it seems perfectly natural to me that people would respond this way to music. There's probably some element of that in my fondness for this record.
