Offspring Month: Americana (1998)

'The songs on Americana aren't condemnations, they're short stories about the state of things and what we see going on around us. We want to expose the darker side of our culture. It may look like an episode of Happy Days out there in America, but it feels more like Twin Peaks.'

Dexter Holland, SFGate.com

The Offspring: Americana (1998) - singles marked with red

video links provided where available

• Welcome - A quick spoken track, just to make sure you won't get a heart attack right after hitting the 'play' button.
• Have You Ever  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Some of their hardest riffs explode into our ears in the intro, starting slow, gaining speed and unleashing probably the most energetic and memorable song they've ever recorded. Great sound quality, from drums to vocals everything has a good punch to it, and probably everyone can relate to those 'some day' lyrics. Highly quotable stuff. It's safe to call this one progressive - after two minutes, the main melody starts to fade out, we get to hear the intro with reversed tempo change, then the whole thing turns into an extended outro that feels like another song entirely, with a positive twist in the lyrics at the very end. Surely one of my favorites.
• Staring At the Sun  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - One of the greatest songs at their live shows, another statement against (sometimes potentially dangerous) trends. Basically the same two verses repeated again and again, but it never gets boring. In fact, I often wish it'd last a minute longer.
• Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - mv - Oh boy, this is it. The big one. Probably their greatest hit, ever. The single that everyone and their grandparents have heard, several times. Their ultimate joke song, but also a half-serious social commentary. It pokes fun at white middle-class gangster rapper 'wannabe' kids, in their own musical language, creating a perfect blend of offspringish punk and classic hip-hop. Old fans of the previous albums usually hated it with a passion, but it gathered them a new army of young followers. Some of 'em liked how it mocked rap, some of 'em liked the mocking rap in it. All in all, nine out of ten people who's old enough to remember the late nineties will think about this song if they hear the phrases "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro", "Give it to me baby" or even "Vanilla Ice" - fun fact: during KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas show in 1998, Mr. Rob W. himself got on stage with the band to perform his Ice Ice Baby act during the second Pretty Fly verse. He knew better than to take his own legacy or a silly Offspring song too seriously - many old school 'spring fans could learn from him. Such a cool guy.
• The Kids Aren't Alright  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - mv - Another huge hit, but this one has been a fan favorite ever since its release. It sounds like a surf tune written in hell, with lyrics describing our everyday lives as a bland, boring and sad dystopian vision coming true right now. Eveything sucks since we've grown up is the main message, but instead of presenting it with a cold Smash-like angst, it's a catchy punk-rock anthem with an almost uplifting "well, it is what it is, but don't let it bring you down, get up and sing with us' attitude.
• Feelings  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Parody of the Morris Albert song with the same name, giving it a pretty hard tune, replacing everything nice and positive in the lyrics with words like hit, hate, kill etc. A bit childish, you might say, but overall not a bad tack. The breakdown/outro is really neat.
• She's Got Issues  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - mv - Fun, poppy little track about dating a messed up girl. Come on Dex, it can't be that bad, at least she doesn't seem to be having anything against her wrists... drifting off-topic here, OK. Catchy, ironic, good song. Has an interesting stereo-effect throughout the verses, I guess it's an Americana thing: something technically similar will come out in The End of the Line's breakdown, too.
• Walla Walla  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪   - This album's 'skaless ska' song, a funny ode to a car thief who has been recently caught and taken to court. Nice song to drink and sing along to.
• The End of the Line  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪   - You could see it as a prequel to Gone Away. Another pretty powerful grief song. Some of the best lyrics - with the reappearance of those brighter days - and an awesome, haunting breakdown. In fact that breakdown is so good, it kinda overshadows everything else. I feel like it would have been better to leave it as the ending instead of giving one last go to the chorus.
• No Breaks  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪   - A short, fast little punk-rock ride, with some really cool changes throughout in the melody. In the verses Dexter sounds like someone who is very pissed about having a sore throat, but actually it fits the song really well.
• Why Don't You Get a Job?  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - mv - Basically an acoustic cover/parody of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, very unoffspingish, but goddamn, is it funny or what. Well... with today's economy it's definitely not that good of a joke, but yeah, it is pretty funny once that voice in the background starts shouting from the last verse. Listen to it with a few drinking pals around and a few shots already in your head.
• Ameicana  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - A very cool tension-raising intro, fast, punchy riffs, a set of whoas and swearing just for the sake of it. It's some rocking Americanization angst and a fitting description of today's busy world, just replace the word 'cable' with 'high-speed internet connection'. I love it to death, but again, this is one of those songs you can't really write much of a review about. Don't blame me, I just work here. Go and give it a listen.
• Pay the Man  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Oh man, oh man, oh man, this one's, this one is... goddamn it, if there's one Offspring song that everybody should hear, it's definitely Pay the Man. Think The End by The Doors on crack. Words like dark, surreal, moody, psychedelic, fucking and awesome come to mind. It's an eight minutes long progressive track, starting out with a very Eastern-sounding section (remember the Come Out and Play reprise on Smash?), which explodes into an epic heavy metal piece. Great atmosphere, sick lyrics, fantastic delivery by Dexter. Just plain awesome. I really think it settles the debate on whether or not The Offspring should push their genre boundaries and do other things besides fast punk-rock. The answer is a definite yes: as long as we get to hear masterpieces like this, they can record any kind of radio-friendly poppy joke they want to. And I really mean it, even though you know how much I hate Cr... nope, we won't ruin Pay the Man's moment here with this.

Other stuff:

• Pretty Fly (reprise) - Some minute-long mariachi fun. Larry Melman appears again and gets to say the White Guy's catchphrase.

Even though it was the most commercially successful album after Smash, I gotta say Americana is an underrated masterpiece. It sounds great, the lyrics are neat, giving the best of both their serious and fun side. There's something for everyone on this record, and no, you don't have to live in America to enjoy or understand it.

In fact, when I first got to hear it - three years after its original release - I found it to be an accurate, surprisingly fitting criticism of my Central-European town. It was the time when MNCs begun taking over business and kids my age started to walk around in Fubu 05 shirts, listening to Eminem, Dr. Dre and acting all gangsta 'n shit. Some of them were wearing Conspiracy of One hoodies, though, providing probably my very first visual contact with The Offspring and their now classic flaming skull logo... but that's a story for next time. Ta-ta.