The Optical Files #149: Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995)

Rancid is one of those bands that everybody likes but is just a little hesitant to admit it. I would use the term "guilty pleasure," but there's nothing really guilty about it. Rancid was the only band to emerge from the '90s pop punk revival with their dignity intact--in large part due to their decision to never sign to a major label. They managed to avoid being branded as mainstream sellouts (like Green Day) or aligning themselves with the trendier grunge scene (like The Offspring). The band continued to honor their authentic streetpunk & ska roots musically, never releasing anything that could properly be called hardcore but coming pretty damn close with their 2nd self-titled album (2000). Their biggest commercial success, ...And Out Come the Wolves, demonstrates the band at their hookiest, most anthemic, & most electric. When they're firing on all cylinders, the spilled beer arms-around-your-friend singalong in the pit energy they generate is pretty much unmatched. 

Musically, Rancid have 2 rock-solid guitarists who share both rhythm & lead duties, & a perfectly competent no-frills drummer in Brett Reed. But the main attraction, of course, is Matt Freeman, a.k.a. punk rock's Geddy Lee, a.k.a. the best bassist in the genre & it's not even close. When he's cranked up, his bass never sits still. He throws out arpeggios, scales, & reaches up the neck for little countermelodies he just slips in there for fun. His bass bobs & weaves & zigs & zags, & producer Jerry Finn wisely creates lots of space in the mix for it. It's sometimes downright comical how athletic the bass is on songs like "Maxell Murder," "Old Friend" & "Lock, Step & Gone" (just to name a few) meanwhile the guitars are playing basic 16th-note power chords that you absolutely don't need 2 of them for.

The '90s punk revival came at a price: in anything approaching the mainstream (with the exception of Bad Religion), the leftist politics that united punk as a subculture rather than just a genre of music disappeared. I'm positive this is MTV's fault. Popular culture, in the '90s the same as today, privileges non-specific defiance; generalized anger at systems rather than, like, why you should dumpster dive & steal office supplies from your temp job & sell them to fund Marxist guerillas in South America. You know, actual punk shit. It's a shame because Rancid are heavily influenced by The Clash (who readers of this series know are one of my favorite bands ever), both in big ways like how they incorporate reggae into their sound & details like the siren-like guitar lead of "The 11th Hour." But aside from some vague gesturing in "The Wars End" & the colorblind punk unity message of the Oi tribute "Avenues & Alleyways," the politics that gave The Clash their raison d'etre are very scarce here. It's hard to be the only band that matters if you don't sing about much that matters.

Anyway, let's get to the elephant in the room. This is possibly the most flagrantly frontloaded album I have ever listened to. The front half is full of classics like "Lock, Step & Gone," "Listed M.I.A." & the Jim Carroll feature "Junkie Man," not to mention the album's trio of hit singles ("Roots Radicals," "Time Bomb" & "Ruby Soho"). The pickings are much slimmer later on, though--beyond the aforementioned "Avenues & Alleyways" & the singalong hook of "As Wicked" (which features another gobsmacking Freeman bass performance), there isn't a single song on the album's back half that has much replay value. Not to mention the band pounds a few ideas into the ground: "Time Bomb," "Daly City Train" & "Old Friend" all sound suspiciously similar, tremolo leads & all, like the band loved the 2 Tone Records style enough for 3 songs but only had enough ideas for 1.

I've never been the kind of fan who turns up their nose at pop punk & insists only hardcore is real. Pop punk is absolutely a valid flavor of punk, & when it's done right, the big hooks & gang shouts can convey just as much anarchic energy as blast beats & screams. With the benefit of a budget sufficient to let Freeman's brilliant bass shine through the razoring guitars, ...And Out Come the Wolves is about as good as this style gets. At least, for the first 25 or so minutes.