Devil's Gate Music
Related Articles
For the past 40 years, The Offspring have released classic after classic after classic within the pop-punk community. From 1994’s masterpiece Smash through to 2008’s iconic Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, the band have consistently stayed on top of their peers, creating some of the most catchy and memorable tracks in the genre – I Want You, Original Prankster and Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) are just 3 such examples. The release of their last album, 2021’s Let the Bad Times Roll, further cemented their place in pop-punk history, hitting #3 in the UK album charts upon release (their highest UK album chart position, no less!) as well as going out on a mammoth arena tour, which included a momentous appearance at Wembley Arena.
And if you thought the Garden Grove boys were showing any signs of slowing themselves down, you’d be sorely mistaken. Because here we are in 2024 with the release of their 11th studio album Supercharged, and it really does live up to its name. With the artwork paying homage to the legendary Ride the Lightning album by Metallica, from the get-go you can get a sense of what the 10 tracks will be like; energised, heavy, and lively. As is evidenced in the past, The Offspring have been known to share a love of hard rock/heavy metal; they’ve covered songs live by the likes of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Van Halen, and many more, so it was only a matter of time before they clearly signified this love in the form of one of their albums!
Kicking off the album with Looking Out for #1, we’re immediately presented with… Tubular Bells?!?! Right, I know what you’re all thinking, and yes it’s surprising to read – it does kick things off with a very creepy and eerily atmospheric bell intro, but it then crashes the listener headfirst into that classic Offspring sound that we all know and love. The low registered response of “Looking out for #1” reminds me of Redman’s “Original prankster” response on the track of the same name – a cool little throwback to the 2000 classic. Lead single Make It All Right is an equally powerful tune – beginning with voice actor Rebecca Shoichet delivering a song-summarising line of “All I want to do is to fly away with you,” it is 3 and a half minutes of pop-punk perfection. The ‘partners in crime’ lyrical aspect of the song is a subject matter that I’m sure many fans far and wide will easily relate to and will dedicate this to their loved ones.
In terms of personal preference, I was especially impressed by the track Ok, But This Is the Last Time. It may throw you off guard at first, due to it beginning with a very pop-infused guitar introduction, but give it enough time and it then explodes into a powerful chorus that sounds like it would’ve fit in perfectly with the mid-00’s emo/pop punk boom. The chorus is infectiously catchy too – “Take me, take me, take me for a ride / Make me, make me put revenge aside / I’ll say ‘No’ then you’ll say ‘Yes’ / Then I’ll say ‘Ok, but this is the last time'” – if it’s ever performed live, it’s clear that this will soon become a fan favourite.
It’s hard to ignore the funny and epic single Come to Brazil, which is exactly what you think it is. Beginning with a crushing intro, reminiscent of Black Album-era Metallica, it goes into a proper 90s arena rock style; I can just picture fans all collectively headbanging along to Noodles’ shredding! The first verse of the song has Dexter exclaim “All our fans, well, they’re really great / But the ones from Brazil, they really take the cake / DM’ing all the time, they’re begging ‘Say you will’ / ‘Say you’ll come to Brazil'” which, from a meme standpoint, is downright fucking hilarious and shows that the band are still current with today’s youth culture as they were 20 years ago. And after the catchy choruses, they go into a very tongue-in-cheek outro of “Olé, olé olé olé / Olé, olé” taken from an iconic football chant, just to wrap it all up. Despite its incredibly cheesy nature, this song slaps!
When all is said and done, Supercharged is a clear representation of The Offspring back on top of their game, perfecting their sound once more and, yet, evolving their sound at the same time. It serves as a throwback to fans of albums like Americana, Smash, and Ixnay on the Hombre, whilst also simultaneously serving as a continuation of their last few albums. It’s frenetic, it’s heavy, it’s The fucking Offspring, baby. Back at the top where they belong!
Supercharged is out on October 11th. Pre-order/pre-save now at: https://found.ee/OffspringSUPERCHARGED
Review – Joe Richardson
