The Offspring: Splinter : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Halfway through Splinter, the Offspring's first album in three years, there's a song written from the vantage point of a young drinker with a god-awful hangover: "It hurts so bad, I'm never gonna drink again/At least not till next weekend." One reason a nineteen-year-old band with hardcore-punk roots can feel comfortable writing frat-boy-friendly songs is that in the Offspring's Cali-punk world, progress is less about maturity than about finding faster beats and bigger riffs.

Splinter does have its share of serious moments, as on the opener, "Neocon," a vague, Fugazi-esque statement of purpose ("We will not compromise/We will never lose to you"). But mostly Splinter relies on a familiar collection of party-hearty and slamming sounds: catchy pogo punk ("Long Way Home"), sludgy pseudo-grunge ("Race Against Myself"), reggae-lite jams ("The Worst Hangover Ever") and lighthearted ditties about romantic dysfunction ("Spare Me the Details"). Ironically, Splinter drags when the Offspring are most faithful to their roots -- trad-punk numbers such as "Lightning Rod" are a bit too reverential. But like jokey pioneers the Ramones, the Offspring could keep riding their dumb humor and smart riffs well into middle age.