Rancid
Indestructible

THE REVIEW

If you ask a guy who claims to listen to punk, aside from the usual names, the ones included in Mtv airplay and hordes of "enfants" following, who have nothing punk about them, they'll mention various groups, including two that are still playing today: NOFX and their "neighbors," so to speak, Rancid.

Indeed, they are led by Tim Armstrong, formerly of Operation Ivy, formed in the early '90s, and with this "Indestructible," they reach their sixth studio album, excluding the split with the aforementioned NOFX from the year before. Generally, with each new release from the Californian lineup, you expect yet another sound revolution, the belief in hearing something different, and yet this time, no! This "Indestructible" takes the best of what the band has done from their beginnings to the previous album "Rancid 2000."

And that's precisely the beauty of it; the final result is decidedly positive because you find within it every musical influence of the band and all the sonic solutions previously experimented and proposed. There's the street/punk of the first two albums, but also the punk rock mixed with ska from "...And Out Comes The Wolves," as well as the reggae and furious hardcore from "Life Won't Wait" and "Rancid 2000," respectively.

Upon its release, the album was criticized by many fans and non-fans alike, and in my opinion, it's a bit underrated. Sure, it may not contain masterpieces that make us jump on the couch, but it hits the mark. First of all, this album comes after the angry self-titled album, and here the boys take a more relaxed approach but still deliver adrenaline-pumping old-school punches. But the most important thing is that finally, aside from a few isolated instances, the album is very homogeneous and flows quite smoothly without getting boring.

This, unlike the past, where in the two excellent 1994/1995 albums (Let's Go, And Out...), there were indeed great anthems but also several useless songs or simply songs that were too similar to one another. The same can be said for "Rancid 2000"; playing harder isn't enough to necessarily produce an excellent album. It's no coincidence that, in the predecessor, the already evident tendency takes full shape and body with even more uniform and shorter songs that aren't even distinguishable (a real Achilles' heel for this combo). After making these considerations, let's dive into the musical ocean.

A whopping 19 songs, yes, too many for some, but when analyzed individually, they manage not to look out of place within the whole. Among the best are undoubtedly the rock n' roll punk of "Spirit '87" and the excellent street punk of "Roadblock," complete with a warm solo reminiscent of "Let's Go," another great album by the band, and "Ivory coast" where excellent use of choirs can be found. Not bad either is the gritty hardcore of "Django" and "Out of control," which continue the dialogue started by the penultimate album.

The single "Fall back down" is also good, with the use of an organ, and the also catchy punk rock of "Born frustated." It's worth noting how the album is noticeably lighter and more cheerful than its predecessor, with songs that didn't reach the two-minute mark, and also less powerful, as already mentioned, with nice ska and reggae digressions like "Start now" or "Memphis."

The only surprise and novelty of the album is the unusually sweet ballad "Arrested in Shanghai," possibly the first in their entire discography.

Then the claim that they've sold out is nonsense, as I don't see string quartets, pop melodies, or Green Day-style ballads in Rancid's records, and Tim Armstrong's voice is anything but clean and pristine. The issue of the major label distributing the record seems to me a mere pretext, at least not a valid one for criticizing the band on a purely musical level.

As I mentioned before, I consider it a great album. Okay, it doesn't contain unforgettable hits like "Radio" and "Salvation" from "Let's Go," which I believe are the most beautiful songs, but this "Indestructible" is a great album that can be fully appreciated precisely because it manages to change pace from song to song, never getting boring by alternating relaxed moments with others of pure adrenaline, in short, a must-have.