Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The die is loaded against us, for whatever humanity does now will surely not be enough to stop the rot of our physical environment’s destruction, and for own spirituality to betray us, to let us wallow in the despair of the imagined realms of ownership, greed and possession. It is a wonder that a person in a freshly laundered tuxedo, holding a cigar tightly between forefinger and thumb, and sporting a cynical, but meaningful smile, has not as yet picked up a megaphone and declared to one and all with a voice that inspires the carney and the ringmaster, “Let The Bad Times Roll”.

For the post punk rock scene stalwarts, The Offspring, it could be fair to suggest that their brand-new studio album sees the end of such times. Not for the lack of ambition to create new music, just the fierceness of various inner battles that has seen them take an extended break from producing new music, Let The Bad Times Roll is the album of the long way back, the set of songs that show what as been missed in the interim. Whilst arguably there has been false starts and dawns since the absolute heyday of 1998s Americana release, there is still so much belief in the band, so much visible energy, that it would have been an absolute shame to think they could not have ever allowed the fans a glimmer, a full-scale production, in which to claw back the good times.

And they are good times, the album is awash with decent tracks, with that all too important element of passion for the finished article weaved into each moment. This is not an album of killing time, of keeping the audience alert of their existence, Let The Bad Times Roll is an album that kicks down the door of mediocrity and allows the growl, the stirring of anger to resurrect itself in a way that a lion who has taken untold abuse will respond with a snap of its jaw and the satisfaction of a full stomach to come.

Across tracks such as Army Of One, the exceptional observation of relationship malaise and indifference in We Never Have Sex Anymore, Hassan Chop, Behind Your Walls, and the opener of This Is Not Utopia, The Offspring’s return spells out authenticity and pride.

An album which stands up against others in its genre, one that heralds the return a great American band with a mission to catch up against Time’s ever running hand. This maybe not Utopia, but it is the place where the die is no longer loaded against the listener and the band.

Ian D. Hall