Rancid, 'Let the Dominoes Fall'

Release date: June 2, 2009
Record label: Hellcat/Epitaph
Official Web site: http://www.rancidrancid.com/

The buzz: After a few tours, some side projects (Transplants, the Bastards) and frontman Tim Armstrong discovering his inner Desmond Child (see below), the Bay Area punk vets return with their seventh studio album—and first in six years.
 
The verdict: Outside of a new drummer (ex-Used sticksman Branden Steineckert), “Dominoes” finds the band on familiar turf, creating a solid mishmash of punk, rockabilly, ska and dub. There’s no “Radio” or “Ruby Soho” here, but the songs are uniformly catchier and poppier than anything on the quartet’s last few records, with a few nice surprises (the garage-rock gem “Skull City”) and, as usual, the best basslines in punk, courtesy of Matt Freeman (see “You Want It, You Got It” for proof). Despite the lyrical bent—a split between the economic woes of the working class and the war in Iraq—“Dominoes” feels relentlessly upbeat, both in tempo and mood.
 
Did you know? Part of the delay in the band’s output may stem from Armstrong’s recent interest in outside song collaboration. In the past few years, he’s co-written songs for Pink (most of her “Try This” album), Cypress Hill, Fefe Dobson and the Matches, among others.

Add a comment