Let the Bad Times Roll

by The Offspring

Overview

It's no understatement that Let the Bad Times Roll, the Offspring's tenth album, had a bit of a difficult birth. The group started to record material for a sequel to Days Go By not long after its 2012 release, entering the studio with producer Bob Rock in 2013. Not long afterward, they parted ways with their longtime label of Columbia, a process that didn't go smoothly. The band managed to put out a single called "Coming for You" in 2015, but they didn't complete a full album until 2021, by far the longest period between the Offspring LPs. This backstory doesn't necessarily surface on the album itself. The glammy stomp "Coming for You" -- Gary Glitter by way of SoCal punk -- doesn't necessarily sound older than anything else on Let the Bad Times Roll, which doesn't mean to say the rest of the record sounds fresh. Mostly, Let the Bad Times Roll sounds like what it is: the work of middle-aged punk lifers who don't change their style, sound, or perspective. They might sing about different things -- witness the married-man lament "We Never Have Sex Anymore," which also has just a hint of a Swingers swing to its rhythm -- but Dexter Holland and Noodles, the band's mainstays, retain a love of frenetic punk and loud guitars, elements that served them well back in the 1990s when they were delivered with a vigorous sneer. Here, the band sounds heavier and slightly thicker, qualities that certainly reflect the onset of age as much as lyrics where the group seems resigned to all the doom and gloom swirling around the culture at the dawn of the 2020s. All this means that Let the Bad Times Roll mirrors its time even if it doesn't sound a thing like it: it's a record by and for disgruntled old guys who are too sharp to indulge in nostalgia yet still don't want to let the past go. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/2021
Label:	Concord
UPC:	0888072230200

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Offspring   Primary Artist
Alan Chang   Piano
Ricardo "Tiki" Pasillas   Percussion
Dexter Holland   Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Bass)
Jason Powell   Clarinet,Saxophone
Pete Parada   Drums
Eric Marbauch   Trombone
Josh Freese   Drums
Phil Jordan   Trumpet
Noodles   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Bob Rock   Recording Producer,Producer,Recording,Mixing,Engineer
Brendan O'Brien   Producer
Dave Pierce   Programming,Sound Design
Dexter Holland   Composer,Package Design
Ian Charbonneau   Recording
Eric Helmkamp   Engineer,Recording
Adam Greenholtz   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Julian Peploe   Package Design
Chris Allgood   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Emily Lazar   Mastering Engineer,Mastering
John Dibiase   Engineer,Recording
Daveed Benito   Photo Illustration
Nick DiDia   Engineer