The Offspring have had a somewhat rocky past, but when you look at the rest of the music industry, with bands coming and going as fast as their first track hits the radio, its nice to see something consistent over all these years. And what better band to keep consistent that my absolute favorite band ever?

After jumping the indie label ship that is Epitaph for the corporate seeding of Sony, The Offspring released Ixnay on the Hombre, an album many, wrongfully deducted, as horrible only because of the hard feelings they had against the band for “selling-out.” Still Ixnay, and the next two albums to follow, Americana and Conspiracy of One showed a progression of the type of music the band was producing. Americana was filled with catchy riffs, even catchier tunes, including the old-but-still-good “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)” and “Why Don’t You Get A Job.” The Offspring are back now with the album formerly known as Chinese Democracy, Splinter.

Continuing the nauseating trend of pointless intro tracks, The Offspring give us “Neocon” which, at the very least, gets us ready for the rest of the album, unlike bands like Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit who basically waste away the entire first track. The highlight of the album is the Goldfinger-like ska “The Worst Hangover Ever” which also keeps The Offspring’s humor alive previously seen on every single one of their albums, beginning with “Bad Habit” on Smash. “Da Hui” and “The Noose” both bring back memories of the harder punk styling of the band seen on their self titled release and Ignition. The radio friendly, pop-inspired “Hit That” provides a good door way for future fans to discover the band.

Dexter and the guys really shine when it comes to making memorable songs and infusing humor into their music, never, aside from a few instances, taking anything too seriously that you can’t crack a smile. Rounding out the album the laugh riot, “When You’re in Prison” which has a distinct 1950s tone and sound to it and gives you ample advice on how to handle yourself in the joint. Sure it isn’t a song, but is surely worth placement on the CD.

The biggest disappointment I have with the CD, and is becoming a repeating trend among CDs these days, is the overall length. The disc only has 10 actual tracks minus the intro and not-quite-a-song ending track. This sort of thing could lead a man to piracy. What that leaves you with is a disc that can almost be listened to in moderate journey around town. I will never know the amount of work that goes into making a CD, but with three years of development time, I think we were all hoping for just a little bit more on the return. Still, any Offspring fan will be overjoyed with the bands journey back to their punk roots as well as the “splinter” into the type of music they began to dabble in on Conspiracy of One.

The Offspring’s last release was panned by critics and some fans as a turning for the band. Since their highly publicized departure from Epitaph Records to the Sony owned Columbia, they have been labeled sell-outs, traitors, and trendy. But it just goes to show that a band’s real fans are the one’s who stand by them no matter how bad an album they put out, or how different they change.

I am a true Offspring fan, and I totally loved their last CD, Americana. Sure, it wasn’t their best CD (that honor belongs to their breakout hit, Smash) but they made an honest effort to return to the style that made them famous with the afore mentioned Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre.

Conspiracy of one was originally intended to be released online through the band’s website in MP3 form in order to show their support for Napster and the whole file-swapping digital revolution online. Sony didn’t like that idea much. But the band did manage to release their first single from the album, “Original Prankster” on their site to help promote the disc and it’s impending release. The Offspring are only one of the bands (Including Limp Bizkit and others) that have publicly stepped up and supported the near-defunct swapping pioneer service.

Conspiracy of one features everything the Offspring are known for. There is the catch “Original Prankster” that reminds you more of “Why Don’t You Get A Job” and “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” than traditional old-school Offspring. But the CD does have it’s share of hard hits. “Special Delivery” brings back the days of Smash’s “Bad Habit” and “Million Miles Away” brings you back Ixnay on the Hombre’s “Staring at the Sun” and “Gone Away.”

If anything the Offspring have the ability to test different styles of music, just as they did with “Pay the Man” on Americana. While the disc is not their best effort, that doesn’t mean it isn’t still good. Smash was so good that they would be hard pressed to find a way to top it, but I’m egger to see if, and when, they do.

I don’t believe that the Offspring are sellouts even though they did leave Epitaph for the bigger, more financially secure Columbia/Sony. There is only so far you can go on a independent label (don’t tell that to Pennywise, because they have proved me wrong already), but the Offspring saw a changing in the wind and decided to leave the home of Smash and release Ixnay on the Hombre as a full commercial release with the help of a major label.

What people did was label the CD, without listening to the music on it, and this CD is certainly not Smash II proving that The Offspring still have it, even on their fourth album release. Ixnay features both catchy punk tunes (“Don’t Pick It Up,” “Meaning of Life”) and songs that almost seem like 80s hair-band rock ballads (“Gone Away,” “Amazed”). The Offspring continue to change up what they are doing to stay with the times, while not compromising who they are.

Ixnay on the Hombre further diversifies the Offspring’s music. With “Don’t Pick It Up” they speak of not always believing what something is until you further examine it, or they could mean you shouldn’t think a piece of shit is really a candy bar. With “Gone Away” (my personal favorite song) lead singer Dexter Holland tells of losing a love, and asks to trade places with his lover who has passed.

Trendy or not, the songs on Ixnay show that the Offspring have the staying power to be around eight years after the release of Smash.

While Ixnay on the Hombre doesn’t diversify upon what has already been done in the punk genre, it further intensifies that the Offspring are a band to contend with, and they will continue to make good music far into the next century.

This is where it all started for me and punk music. This CD brought me into the wonderful world that we call punk, rebellion, alternative, or just “fast-talking-noise.” With Smash The Offspring shed the shackles of the underworld to be brought into the eye of society and show that they had more than enough talent to compete with the “talented” bands of the early 90s.

To current day, Smash is the biggest selling rock album from and independent label, Epitaph Records, as well as it should be. Even today songs like “Come Out and Play,” “Self Esteem,” and “Gotta Get Away,” are still tearing up the airwaves a full eight years since they were released.

The three afore mentioned songs are the best on the album, but the CDs title track “Smash” is also my favorite of the disc. So good, in fact, that I based an entire school essay on the lines. “I’m not a trendy asshole / Do what I want / Do what I feel like / I’m not a trendy asshole / Who gives a fuck if it’s good enough for you / because I am alive.” Just those simple lines open so much for discussion and homage.

There may be some that now call the Offspring hypocritical because they are just the thing they said they weren’t, trendy, but I tend to disagree. The Offspring have swayed their style in the past few years to a more light hearted tone, leaving the dark wayward songs of “Come Out and Play,” a take on a gang war and “Self-Esteem” about a man and his user girlfriend looking to score all the time. With the release of Americana and to some extent Ixnay on the Hombre The Offspring have proved that they can change with the times, so they aren’t fazed out, much like grunge was.

The song’s most interesting, and true to life road rage experience “Bad Habit” will have you listening to the words over and over again, as the song is a perfect example of some less than perfect driver “showing his piece.”

Smash is the perfect album for someone looking to enjoy a good 40 minute CD and be introduced to punk music. It is not as hardcore as some of the other punk bands out there, so it is great to ease you in on the experience.