Offspring Break Off "Splinter"

The Offspring will release Splinter, their seventh album and first in three years, on December 9th.

"It sounds like an Offspring album," frontman Dexter Holland told Rolling Stone during production. "If you like 'All I Want' or 'Bad Habit,' you might like a lot of these songs. We have other songs that are a little more rocking, and then there are the oddballs that don't sound like anything."

The California punks began writing the new tracks early last year but didn't get around to recording until this year. In March, the Offspring announced that drummer Ron Welty had left the band. Josh Freese (the Vandals) plays drums on all twelve of Splinter's tracks.

Back in the fold, however, was producer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine) who recorded the Offspring's last set, 2000's Conspiracy of One. "We get along with him really well," frontman Dexter Holland told Rolling Stone.

The album's first single is "Hit That," which has already made its way to radio. The Offspring are planning to play a circuit of radio festivals through the rest of the year, before heading to Europe for a tour in January. With Freese doing duty with A Perfect Circle, Atom Willard will be the band's drummer.

Splinter track list:

Neocon
The Noose
Long Way Home
Hit That
Race Against Myself
(Can't Get My) Head Around You
The Worst Hangover Ever
Never Gonna Find Me
Lightning Rod
Spare Me the Details
Da Hui
When You're in Prison

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Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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