With an album title that sounds like the most recent Foo Fighters record, a song called "Fix You" (I thought Coldplay had already professed that particular desire), and a collection of tracks that sound like they want to be Green Day, My Chemical Romance or The Offspring circa 1994, The Offspring have become imitators and glory-day seekers, shapeshifting and morphing and never really occupying any concrete space in the musical landscape.
To be quite honest, these guys should have given it up by now. Their intentions are good but as the grandparents in a micro-generation of mainstream punk/pop bands, no new fans are going to crop up at this late stage, and any remaining old fans are likely to either be jaded scenesters or overweight Warped Tour devotees who still buy Pennywise records. Even for them, they'd be better off just buying another copy of Smash.
Opener "Half-Truism" starts off a little like Muse, then kicks right into Conspiracy of One-era Offspring. It's all very well documented: chunky guitar tone, oozin' aahs, slowed down chorus, 'punk' chords... we've heard this before, guys. For a few seconds it feels like the band have some urgency, then we realize it's just too hard to get excited about. "Trust in You" is a prime example of the band longing for a time when things were exciting: it sounds exactly like Smash's "Something to Believe in", down to the chords and key. While the guitars sound bigger and there's an attempt at variety with some vague synth in the background, it's essentially a re-hash of better days.
"You're Gonna Go Far Kid" is a crotchety old man's attack on... something. Dance music? Who knows. Lyrics are fairly generic, as are the chords, with meathead shoutalongs of "Dance, fucker, dance" appealing to the bro crowds out there. "Stuff is Messed Up" at least shows some musical variety, with a straight-up rock and roll driving rhythm. Lyrically, however, we're reduced right back down again with "I don't know much / But I know this: Shit is fucked!" (repeat ad infinitum). If NOFX's political commentary was supposed to be the ultimate in lowbrow, this makes the Ramones look like philosophers.
Single "Hammerhead" is another anti-war polemic, a few years too late to be relevant, and guilty of appealing to everyman political newcomers by attacking U.S. military involvement. If it takes an Offspring record in 2008 to awaken you to the fact that American foreign policy is a bad thing, then you've probably got bigger issues than listening to bands that should know better.
"Kristy Are You Doing Okay?" is a cutesy pop ballad that sounds like the more grandiose elements of My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade or Green Day's American Idiot. Unlike their fellow 'elder statesmen' of 90s punk rock, The Offspring haven't tried hard enough to challenge themselves, attempting to situate themselves somewhere between their past and what they perceive as their present. "Nothingtown" again borrows from their past, with a verse that sounds like a slowed-down version of "I Want You Bad" mixed with Warning-era Green Day. A schlocky ballad and a couple of genuinely catchy tracks close the album.
Some of the (admittedly few) best moments on Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace are found when the band aren't so self-consciously trying to emulate either themselves or their peers, and most of these are found near the end of the record. One plus point is the absence of the obvious 'joke song' that plagued their last few releases, at least suggesting they're trying to move on somewhat. Unfortunately for The Offspring, this record works better as documentation of the current alternative music scene, borrowing from others and diluting the influence the band once had on some of their now-more successful compatriots. While it's hard to fault them for wanting to keep making music, they're going to have to figure out who they're making it for and why before they'll convince anyone to get excited again about what they have to say.
