16 May 2008

Ain't had a whole lotta time over the last twenty years for singalong, mid-tempo, anthemic punk rock soundtracks for disaffected youth, but damn if every few years I pull this out and it ain't a put the brain by the roadside and punch your fist drive down the 580. Kick off the ska numbers and you'd have yourself a 12-song classic (well, at least for the genre), with almost every tune instantly hummable. I even had a moment of wistful gazing when the ode to Op Ivy, Journey to the End of the East Bay, took me back to an 80's I can barely remember. Strummerisms abound, but the songs are more consistently catchy than any Clash album, with no annoying half-assed commie rantings to distract the bliss of your morning commute. Let the haters hate- it's Rancid, children, can you dig it?

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