September 4, 1999

Offspring : Kids aren't alright, The

...[B]The Offspring[/B] are pretty spry for old guys. And, hey, at least they're not [a]Green Day[/a].

Confession time. We were all geared up to torch this record with a rant about how America completely missed the point of punk rock, turning it into a grindingly worthy and crushingly conservative megabucks industry centred around uptight macho dullards like Rollins and Albini.

Then we heard the record and, bugger, it's a serviceable slab of inoffensive melodi-core with a guitar line naggingly reminiscent of Magazine's edgy noo
wave landmark 'Shot By Both Sides'. Bastards! In fact, The Offspring are pretty spry for old guys. And, hey, at least they're not Green Day.

Stephen Dalton