[rating=7.00]
Following up 2014’s solid …Honor Is All We Know is Trouble Maker, the ninth studio album from the long reigning Berkeley punks Rancid. Once again produced by Brett Gurewitz, the group shows they are still trucking along with the best of them as they plow through 17 tracks with consistent concise energy, passion and vigor.
They play to their strengths, there are flashes of arena rock grandeur, upbeat ska breaks and break neck four-on-the-floor burners. From the opening bang of “Track Fast” to the raw “This is Not the End” closes the disk with positive aggression, the four piece (Tim Armstrong, Matt Freeman, Lars Frederiksen, Branden Steineckert) are supremely comfortable.
“An Intimate Close Up of a Street Punk Trouble Maker” is an anthemic story song while the groove gets amped for the skanking “Where I’m Going” that will scratch the ska itch. There is also the requisite upbeat pop punk love/tribute songs “Beauty of the Pool Hall” and “Farewell Lola Blue” that gets some ooh’s and ahh’s flowing while “Say Goodbye to Our Heroes” and “Bovver Rock and Roll” are huge numbers that will fill amphitheatres all summer long.
There are a couple of small new experiments, such as some distorted harmonica work on the pumping “Buddy” and the folk strumming on “Telegraph Avenue” which both nod to later day Mike Ness, allowing Rancid to try new things, yet never move out of the comfort zone for the majority of their fanbase.
Vocals throughout can become disjointed and having three singers doesn’t help. The lyrics and singing get drowned out and lost during “All American Neighborhood” while Armstrong sounds detached for “Ghost of a Chance”, leading to a throwaway number. Then again they are so locked in for the gang vocals on tracks like “Make It Out Alive” that the missteps are easily forgotten.
There is no real standout number, and Rancid are clearly not reinventing themselves, if anything the band’s late career consistency may in itself seem bland, but rather then messing with their tried and true formula they continue to just keep doing what they do best; making large sounding punk records that reverberate from the streets to the cheap seats.
