The Offspring return to their signature mix of guileless pop-punk and forked-tongue irony on “Let the Bad Times Roll,” the title track off their upcoming record, which will be their first in nearly a decade.
Although the title puns off the Cars, the track starts off sounding a bit more like the Police, as Dexter Holland mewls the song title over acoustic guitar before the band settles into a hard rock groove and he sings to his lover, “Let me know what you decide, apathy or suicide,” as he sardonically tries to make the relationship work. The full album is due out on April 16th.
“I feel like we’re in a unique period in history where instead of our world leaders saying ‘we’re doing our best’ it’s more like they’re saying ‘fuck it’ and it’s really scary,” Holland said of the song in a statement.
“Folks are saying, if it’s all going to hell, we might as well make the most out of it, or at least go out swinging,” guitarist Noodles added. “‘Let the Bad Times Roll!’”
As with the band’s previous two albums, 2012’s Days Go By and 2008’s Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, the band worked with producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Black Veil Brides) on Let the Bad Times Roll.
Although the group hasn’t put out any new music in the last nine years, its members have been staying busy. In 2017, Holland — or perhaps we should say Dr. Holland — finished his Ph.D. studies in molecular biology with the publication of a 175-page dissertation on the molecular dynamics of HIV and general virus/host interactions. The next year, he and his bandmates hit the road with 311 and Gym Class Heroes for an extensive summer tour. As for touring in 2021, the band plans on hitting up festivals around mainland Europe in June, but it’s safe to assume those gigs are contingent on pandemic protocols at that time.
Let the Bad Times Roll Tracklist
1. “This Is Not Utopia”
2. “Let the Bad Times Roll”
3. “Behind Your Walls”
4. “Army of One”
5. “Breaking These Bones”
6. “Coming for You”
7. “We Never Have Sex Anymore”
8. “In the Hall of the Mountain King”
9. “The Opioid Diaries”
10. “Hassan Chop”
11. “Gone Away Requiem”
12. “Lullaby”
From Rolling Stone US
