Dedicated to my pal Jason who is about to see Rancid open for the Misfits at Madison Square Gardens.
RANCID – …And Out Come the Wolves (1995 Epitaph)
Some albums earn automatic 5/5 star ratings. This is one of those albums. How’s that for a punk rock length review?
5/5 stars
Oh, alright, you wanted to read a little more with your coffee and slippers and battered & torn old jean jacket this morning? Fine. …And Out Come the Wolves is a landmark, spiritually plucked from an earlier time, as if it came out alongside Never Mind the Bollocks and The Ramones instead of Dookie and Smash. It’s uncompromising, timeless, and relentless. Best of all, there isn’t a weak track amongst the 19 included.
Rancid are punk rock for music fans. Check out Matt Freeman’s absolutely nutso bass solo on opening track “Maxwell Murder” (1:25 long). There’s another on “Lock, Step & Gone”. The album is sharp but not overproduced; there are plenty of rough edges to scratch your itches on. The dual vocals of Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen are individual; albeit both are adequately snotty and gravelly.
…And Out Come the Wolves is notable for its ska influence on a number of tracks. It’s even alluded to in the lyrics: “Give ’em the boot, the roots, the reggae on my stereo.” Or, “Echoes of reggae, comin’ through my bedroom wall.” But even the tunes without the ska boast an abnormally astute sense of melody. Six tonnes of integrity and a sneer.
Memories:
- T-Rev’s favourite song was “Roots Radicals”; he got me into the band. Via the Record Store, I had a four song sampler cassette that included “Roots Radicals”, “Ruby Soho”, “Junkie Man” and “Time Bomb”.
- Jason’s favourite tunes are the fucking awesome “Disorder & Disarray” and “Journey to the End of the East Bay”.
- I had a very significant life event associated with “Time Bomb” that I won’t be telling you about.
- My grunge buddy Aaron strongly hated Rancid and I never understood why.
50 minutes of punk perfection, by four guys who absolutely know their shit. Each song is different; there is something here for everyone. Nobody can go wrong, you can only open your world up to something bright and colourful. …And Out Come the Wolves will blast your adrenal glands up wide open and stimulate your sense of skank. Do not live your life without it.
5/5 mohawks 
Frigging love this one. Roots Radicals for me, all the way. I bought the LP in Athens, on holiday.
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YES! That’s awesome dude. But do you ever worry about transporting the records while you’re on vacation? I know I would. I prefer not to buy records when I’m travelling, which breaks my heart. I still buy silver circles though.
I’m genuinely curious about this. If I were in Athens I would feel like I have to mail the disc home first.
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True Story. Back around this time Rancid was booked to play TBay in a small club and then the album took off and sold like crazy. Rancid fulfilled their commitments by still showing up here and playing when they could have easily blown the gig off.
Gotta respect that!
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From what I can tell they are a band with total integrity. They stuck with Epitaph when everybody else was signing with majors. They’ve never gone Blink 182 and wrote pop songs. I like ’em! I just like ’em. A lot of punk rock is just two inches away from metal. I mean, bass solos dude!
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True very true Mikey
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Nice one Mike! You are right, I wouldn’t have expected that one from you. Great way to end the work week.
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Thank you sir. I’ve played this album 3 times in the last 24 hours.
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No way! I have Tenderloin as my ringtone! I have had for years. Before that it was something by Bon Jovi.
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“Something” could be one of their song titles from the later years!
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I can’t remember which song it was. I know it was something from Crush. I think it was Just Older.
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The last 20 seconds or so of Ruby Soho with the layered vocals are especially excellent!
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This was one of my brother’s favourites (I dare say it still is). One of those important ones, but I could only listen to in chunks.
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My son Big Earl loves these guys and turned his old man onto them
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