The Offspring, ‘Days Go By’ – Album Review

If you didn't guess by the title, the Offspring are in a state of reflection with their ninth album, 'Days Go By.'

Despite the theme, the album still keeps the immediacy that fans have come to reflect in the band's sound. While audiences have been a little mixed on the poppy second single, 'Cruising California (Bumpin' in My Trunk),' it should be noted that the song is more of an exception than the standard on the 'Days Go By' disc.

The first half of the disc is especially straight out of the Offspring playbook, with opening track 'The Future Is Now' and 'Hurting as One' serving as full-throttle rockers with the standard punk beat. 'Secrets From the Underground' and 'Turning Into You' have more driving beats, with the latter offering several opportunities for the audiences to shout "Hey" within the body of the song.

Then there's the title track, which is the first single and most radio friendly rocker on the album. With its lyrics of "All your anger / All your hurt / Doesn't matter in the end / Those days go by / And we all start again," the song is typical of the sort of reflection embodied on the record.

'The Future is Now' begins the reflective look, warning the listener, "The future is here / This is how I disappear," while the mid-tempo standout 'All I Have Left is You' is more relationship-based in the reflection, "We're holding on / When there's nothing left to hold onto / So I'm holding on / Because all I have left is you."

Being nine records in, singer Dexter Holland recently expressed the difficulty of keeping things fresh and having to dig a little deeper, and the latter half of the disc is where we see the band break out of the mold a bit. 'Cruising California' definitely has a pop feel and could be destined for crossover "Song of the Summer" status. 'O.C. Guns' has the mixture of funky reggae bass, a dub vibe, and horns thrown in for a gangsta feel, and 'Dirty Magic' has single potential, with the band exploring a darker tone that usual.

But before you forget what band this is, 'Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell' finishes out the disc in full Offspring glory, with prerequisite sing-along cursing and an unmistakable beat. It's bound to be a live favorite, and brings it all back around to make this a quintessential Offspring disc.