the Offspring

Splinter

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Editor's Review:

The Offspring’s 1994 release, Smash (Epitaph), helped entrench punk rock as a genre of popular music moreso than a cultural movement. Though the band’s sound does hearken The Offspring’s seedier predecessors, removed were most of punk’s more threatening aspects. On their seventh album, Splinter, The Offspring once again bring a multi-faceted punk rock onslaught to the masses, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Beginning with “Neocon,” an AFI-like chant-along in which Dexter Holland repeats the defiant rallying cry, “We will never lose to you,” Splinter then follows with the darkly aggressive “The Noose,” and call-and-response verses and violently harmonized choruses of “Long Way Home.” But this isn’t The Offspring gone simply brooding neo-hardcore — as the goofy single “Hit That,” the bright acoustic pop-punk of “Spare Me the Details” and the bouncy ska jam “The Worst Hangover Ever” would attest — the band’s interests seem far too scattered. Splinter proves to be a fitting title, as the album’s songs are so diverse they border on schizophrenic, branching off down many disparaging paths. The most curious of these is the final track, “When You’re In Prison,” which crackles like an old record and features full string orchestration.
Splinter is rounded out with high-energy songs, ranging in tone from perky to furious, and producer Brendan O’Brien lacquers each track to a glossy shine. This release could never be mistaken for the gritty, lo-fi punk of yesteryear — Splinter would probably get its ass kicked in the punk rock playground on a regular basis — but Holland’s bombastic delivery and Noodles’ tight guitar playing, regardless of style, make this album enjoyable nonetheless.
– James Barone
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