Offspring's newest album no worse than harmless Splinter

posted December 16, 2003

by Aidan Seale-Feldman of Campanile

Drum beats, defined and heavy, begin to reverberate out of my speakers. A deep and definite bass riff comes in, followed by guitar and what sounds like war cries of an angry crowd. Over the cries screams the voice of guitarist Dexter Holland. "We are strong/we are right/we won't be pushed aside/we'll go on/ we will fight/we will not compromise." These are the first sounds of The Offspring's new album, Splinter released on Tuesday, December 9 2003.

A few tracks and some spastic drumbeats later, the featured song "Hit That" begins. It sounds like a new No Doubt song, laden with electronic sounds similar to those created by a colorful plastic eight-note children's keyboard that plays a little tune when you press down on a key. The result seems to have strayed from The Offspring's general style of screaming punk vocals and metal influenced guitar.

Next is "Race Against Myself," a somewhat melodic ballad of self-hatred backed by Stained-esque vocals. It's a shame that The Offspring chose the route of pop-rock sound instead of sticking with their own style. With this new album The Offspring seem to have failed to keep its old identity pure, unlike so many other groups today.

Standing out a bit from the others is the ska-influenced song titled "The Worst Hangover Ever." This song is taken at a slower pace then most on the album. The pace places a large responsibility on the beauty of the singing and the creativity of the lyrics, neither of which are particularly beautiful or creative.

On the other hand, at least they are sending out the message that drinking can be unpleasant to young teens everywhere. "It hurts so bad that I'm never gonna drink again/I'll probably never drink again/I may not ever drink again/at least not ‘till next weekend." Then again, maybe they aren't even doing that.

It is safe to say that the Offspring's talent lies in their energy and pissed-off attitude that they express through their music.

Heavy harmonizing is the backbone of the next track, "Never Gonna Find Me." The vocals slowly build up throughout this song, voice on top of voice, over the guitar, drums, bass and lead singing. Soon enough, the fast-paced song ends and all that is left are the harmonization and the far-off strum of a distorted guitar. The guitar speeds up and then smoothly transitions to the next song, "Lightening Rod."

Farther along the album is a semi-acoustic song about a boyfriend's plea that he be spared the details of his girlfriend's escapades with other men. This semi-acoustic song downplays the metal and punk influence and is one of the more mellow songs on Splinter.

The new album wraps itself up with "Da Hui," a song composed in the classic punk-rock style, written and executed to speedy perfection. In addition to the CD, extra features can be utilized through computer, including bonus MP3s, screensavers, a tour of the bands recording studio, a commentary and a music video for the song, "Da Hui."

One of the most pleasing computer features is a Hawaiian-style song. Although repetitive, it is relaxing and harmonic, definitely something worth listening to.

Maybe most pleasing on this album is the bonus track at the end, a song that seems to have come out of the 40s. Unlike anything new from The Offspring, this song is creative, interesting and different. Adding a slightly odd sound to complete the album, this song is a very nice wrap-up of the 31 minutes and 57 seconds worth of screaming and loud sounds.

The bonus song, "When you're in Prison" has an air of insanity within its melody, like its lyrics and it begins to make you feel as if you are somehow trapped within a never- ending wartime song. As far as I'm concerned, this song is the most innovative addition to the album, a very worthy bonus.

With this new album The Offspring seems to have failed to keep its old identity pure for the most part, unlike so many other groups today. Although the few songs that branched out from The Offspring's general style proved to be less enjoyable, they have still managed to write good songs within the genre that they had previously created for themselves.