Small Fish, Big Pond

I’ve had the new Rancid CD Let the Dominoes Fall kicking around for about two weeks now but have been so busy with the new job I haven’t been able to listen to it. Now that I have I figured I should sound off on it, I have the deluxe 3 disc edition that has two CDs and a DVD “making of” disc. Like I’ve preached before I believe this is the way to preserve the physical CD format and it’s no surprise it small indie labels innovating and not the big 4 labels. Punk bands have always been releasing in singles and EPs out of necessity so having a wider range of release types is easy. And finding alternate recording takes and video content isn’t that hard in out new age of technology. Just make sure you have video camera running at shows and during recording and it’s easy o throw together bonus content for a deluxe edition.

Simply put this is classic Rancid. I may have gripes when I see them live but on CD they’re still one of the best bands out there and definitely the top of the Punk totem pole.

The biggest sign this is the new album is how diverse the songs are, since Tim Armstrong has been experimenting with some alternate styles in alternate bands and songs he’s produced it shows on the album with all the songs being definitely punk but with some influence from other genres.

“Up to no good” and “Liberty and Freedom” have a good punk/ska, sound with an upbeat tempo. Not surprising from a former Operation Ivy member; but also making the album easily accessible to the ska crowd. “Disconnected” is another song that is great and differs from the album enough to give a diverse album that keeps it sounding repetitive like a lot of mass produced corporate CDs that are mostly “filler” (see some of my previous posts on the sad state of American filler albums).

The whole band is involved in the album, it’s not just a Tim Armstrong Joint. I think all members of Rancid have been producing side projects of their own in the last few years which is why their CDs have been so few and far between (that last album being a “B-sides and rarities album doesn’t count” The benefit of all this is that as a band they have a lot of diverse experience to make a vibrant album that isn’t just a collection of new songs that sound the same (*ahem* AC/DC).

Even some slower songs like “Civilian Ways” that have a kind of a country twang to them. “Civilian Ways” a song close to me since it reminds me how I felt coming back from Iraq and still some time feel now, coming home and feeling the culture shock going from Military life back to a civilian life. People feel that they’re connected with what goes on overseas when soldiers are fighting, but they don’t really know how little they know about the pain suffered by the soldiers cut off from everything they know. As for the song it’s pretty interesting how pro military (soldier) punk music is now considering it’s anarchist roots. So many bands are anti-government but pro soldier. Love the soldier, not the war or the people who started the war.

Except the voices “LA River” you wouldn’t think it was Rancid; “That’s Just The Way It Is Now” and “The Highway” is similar it’s obvious that Tim likes experimenting with new sounds and I’m all for artists that diversify their music. It doesn’t always work but in cases like this it makes for an even better album.

The album is good “unity punk” to get crowds singing along. Ironic because the last two times I saw Rancid play live they didn’t have the stage presence other groups had. I don’t know if Rancid is just getting a bit older but they’re definitely stronger on CD than on stage.
Like I said I got the Deluxe edition of the album so I need to mention the acoustic CD. It mostly the same songs except for a couple that were acoustic versions of bonus tracks on the overseas albums.

The acoustic versions are great too and in some cases with the more country sounding songs they are even better because they lend themselves so well to the format. And the acoustic versions aren’t just acoustic guitar like the acoustic bootlegs tat are currently floating around. They have alot of instruments making up a full band and just lacking the electric guitars and bass. The inclusion of accordion adds an interesting sound similar to Flogging Molly and The Tossers.

All in all I would definitely recommend getting this album. I haven’t listened to it enough to see if it’s going to surpass their others as my favorite album but it’s definitely got the potential. Like a friend of mine said, Rancid just gets better with every release that comes out. I’d highly recommend this to anybody that listens to Punk ad even most who don’t and just want to diversify their listening or get a good album with a bit of energy to it.