Smash
by The Offspring

1994

Epitaph

Review

This is The Offspring’s third album, and the one that broke them into the mainstream. It’s also the biggest selling album ever released by an independent label, which is quite the achievement. The record took the punky sound from their previous albums and spun a little bit of pop music hook creation and melodic focus here and there to create something a little more accessible and fun than those previous efforts. Listening back to this now, one of the first things that jumped out to me was how 90s it is. From the little cheesy spoken work intro that then pops in and out across the album, to the “hidden” track at the end, the presentation of the record just screams “90s CD album”. Not that that’s a problem, just something worthy of note. I’d say that this record is the first point at which the Offspring sound was fully established. Whoah, whoah, whoah vocals, rapid punk snares on the twos and fours, even the structure of three repetitions of a riff followed by a variation on the fourth. It’s a very clear musical and tonal footprint and, if that floats your boat you’re going to be in for a treat with this record. For me, as someone who has always enjoyed the Offspring and saw them live in my youth, I felt like there was a lot to love here. The energy, pace and hooks were all great, and they even throw in some nice moments of slightly darker stuff, like Gotta Get Away, to contrast with the poppier end of their sonic spectrum. So there is a bit of range in there. Unfortunately, I do feel like there probably is a little bit of stuff that falls back a little too hard on the formula and doesn’t quite offer the same level of quality as the choicest cuts on the album. It also starts to drag just a little bit at the end. But I think you’d be hard pressed to not get at least a bit of fun and enjoyment out of this and, while I may not listen to this all too often, I’ll happily pop back to this and other Offspring albums now and again for a dose of nostalgia, and to appreciate the high standard of tracks that are scattered through their catalogue.

Track by Track

Time To Relax

This feels like a suuuper 90s intro.

Nitro (Youth Energy)

Firing out the blocks, it’s undeniably the Offspring, isn’t it? 3 rounds of a riff, followed by a variation on the fourth go round? Check. Snare pounding away on the two and four like a machine gun? Check. Woah-woah vocals? Check. It’s fast, driven and fun. There’s enough grit and attitude to it, but it has enough melodic strength to give it just that bit of poppy edge.

Bad Habit

The intro to this is cool. It’s a slow burn and they toy with the listener really nicely. Even when they kick in, it holds things back for a bit before they go full pace. There are some more great riffs and breakdowns in there, and the energy and fun of it are solid. It’s quite puerile in some respects, but that’s fairly typical of California punk and they do it with charm. Perhaps not as many great hooks, but still good.

Gotta Get Away

They drop the pace and vibe of this to something that’s a bit darker in tone. There’s a little edge of groove to it, and some decent bits and pieces of melodic work, but it does lack a bit of range, and feels a bit flat and plodding as a result. It’s not bad, but just lacks energy.

Genocide

But we’re back now. There’s good pace, chugging riffs and some cool lead guitar work. The stripped back vocal, bass and rolling drum sections are cool, and there’s some interesting breakdowns and alternation of focal point that give it good range. The production is pretty powerful too. Solid.

Something To Believe In

It’s quite an unconventional chord structure, but I really like it. It pulls your ear around in an unexpected way, until it becomes a bit more standard during the chorus. The rhythmic work from the guitars gives this a bit of a different texture through the verses and then it’s one of those Offspring choruses with an easy repeated lead vocal and plenty of “whoa” in the backing vox. They do breakdowns really well too. More fun stuff.

Come Out And Play

Now we’re flying. There’s a bit more clarity in the vocal, and there are bags of vocal hooks too, before you even get onto the guitars. Man, this track is just chock full of hooky riffs and lead lines, let alone the rhythmic stop and kick-snare punch back in. The vibe is excellent too. A poppy structure and melodic bent, but enough grit and drive to give it punky flavour too. Everything about this track absolutely slaps. Brilliant.

Self Esteem

Another classic. The bass work is cool, as is the drumming, with great groove and a bit of punch too. The vocal melody is great too. I like the dynamic range provided by dropping the guitars out and slowly building them back in for the chorus. It feels like there’s perhaps a bit less inventiveness in the composition, but it still works well regardless due to that build and fall structure.

It'll Be A Long Time

The punky pace and snappy snare beat is back. It thunders along nicely and the way the vocal melody plays off the guitar riff is strong. The half-time breakdown in the middle is cool, and they ease back into the full time stuff really well. It doesn’t do anything particularly innovative, but it executes well enough that that doesn’t matter.

Killboy Powerhead

There’s some fun bass work in here that gets a bit more focus. It’s pretty damn rapid, but they break that up by using some slowed down strumming patterns in places. There are strong riffs in here, and a great attitude and they get it done in two minutes before it gets stale. Good stuff.

What Happened To You?

The Offspring does ska. It’s poppy, brash and fun, with the great call and response lead to backing vocal stuff that the band do so well. The guitar solo is simple but enjoyable. Again, there’s nothing groundbreaking or complicated about it, but the execution completely sells it and it’s hard not to just get swept up in having a good time.

So Alone

They’re determined to just throw out a bunch of short ones at the end aren’t they? There’s definitely something of the NOFX about the end of this record, and this is another example. Fun riffs, enjoyable vocals, grit, punch and then they’re done.

Not The One

More fun, but is the schtick getting a bit tired by this point on the record? Possibly. There’s great bass playing and some more solid chugging riffs, but it does feel a bit like we’ve heard this all before at this point and I’m not sure it necessarily adds anything new to the formula. I mean, I’m still having fun, but it feels like the formula is perhaps reaching its limit for a single album.

Smash

But then they smash (lol) out a banger like this. Maybe that last one just needed better hooks? Underneath it all, the formula is largely the same, but the change in emphasis between verse and chorus is better, the vocal is a lot better both melodically and lyrically. The fun is ramped up to eleven, and then they throw in a groovy half-time break near the end too. Great finish. With a weird bit tacked on that’s quite cool, but doesn’t do a lot for me. Then we get that oh, so 90s 5 minutes of silence and then…

Secret Track

A slowed down surf rock version of Come Out and Play. It’s quite enjoyable, but is such an odd relic of the 90s.

Smash by The Offspring