10 Albums in 10 Days: Day 6
DAYS GO BY, THE OFFSPRING, 2012
Similarly with Neon Ballroom on day 2, this may come as an unexpected choice for this band, due to the Smash and Americana shaped elephants in the room. I get it, and don’t think that these albums didn’t spring to mind when I decided to review 10 of my favourites, but I loved this later work from the California punk rockers despite the mixed reception it received from critics.
Critics were concerned this was more an album for loyal fans sticking around rather than for new fans, and perhaps I fall into this category (let’s not talk about how I used to get into trouble in primary school for walking around singing “my friend’s got a girlfriend yeah he hates that b****”) but I believe there is enough of their original sound to warrant love from both ends.
I am such a fan of opening track The Future Is Now. 2012 was a weird time (albeit not as weird as 2020!) there was Kony and this whole “the world is ending” debacle and The Offspring addressed this, urging listeners to remember what is real in the world and that no, the world wasn’t going to end in 2012, but if we don’t do anything about it soon, it will be in trouble, so pay attention and get our act together, which is still so relevant today.
Then for the loyal fans from The Offspring’s late 80s/early 90’s roots, Hurting As One and Secrets From The Underground feature their signature “whoa ohs” and “hey you’s” everyone associates with the band, as well as fast riffs and even faster drums.
The title track, Days Go By, is certainly one of these more mellow, matured sounds from the band and it gives me Times Like These by the Foo Fighters vibes, which surely, even for a band as successful as The Offspring is a compliment.
Of course, The Offspring wouldn’t be who they are without a smarmy, pop-referential track circa Pretty Fly For A White Guy and Hit That, which they bury in at track six, Cruising California (Bumpin’ In My Trunk), which drops references to “g-strings just like floss”, “lining up for a bump and grind” and that girl you want waving her “caboose” at you, a cheeky tribute to the piss-take songs that got the band so much commercial popularity.
Days Go By is an excellent blend of the then and now of The Offspring. The future is here, now I’m disappearing…
