Rating: NNN
Sadly, after their initial run of popularity during the pop-?punk explosion of the mid-?90s alongside bands like Green Day, the Offspring have done a dandy job of pigeonholing themselves as a kind of goofy frat house favourite because of asinine mega-?hits like Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). While that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of doing something more substantial, they might have to try a little harder to convince us.
They’ve done that on Rise And Fall. Sounding closer to their more earnest Smash days, the songs are snappy to-?the-?point SoCal punk, albeit with a more polished sheen, while songs like Kristy, Are You Doing Okay? and Fix You could do for the band’s mainstream radio appeal what Wake Me Up When September Ends did for Green Day.
