Review Summary: Ignorance isn't always bliss.
I’ve always found it profusely strange when a band does what The Offspring did with
Days Go By. This is a prime example of an album that slipped through my listening filter at the time of its release, because of their promotion to a really dodgy single they had for it. Sure, “Cruising California (Bumpin' In My Trunk)” is a piss-take track and a little bit of fun, but its satire is something that saw me callously throw what little interest I had left of the band in the trash. It must have taken me about 3 years to finally get around to giving this album a spin for “giggles”; having too much time on my hands at that moment and
Days Go By seemed like a decent way to waste 10 minutes skimming through it just to see how bad it really was. The sad truth is; this was a wasted opportunity for the band, and a record which will have gone ignorantly unheard by many who shared the same standpoint I did because of its marketing choices. For the most part,
Days Go By pushes the band out of the fatigued and stale rut many believed they climbed into after
Conspiracy of One – personally, I’ve always enjoyed their last few records, while nothing earth-shattering, were fun additions to their discography – and the hard truth is,
Days Go By has some of the best work they’ve written in years. The problem is it was falsely presented to its fans with “Cruising California (Bumpin' In My Trunk)”.
Yes, the opening track, “The Future Is Now”, is a great way to kick-off the LP, delivering a fresh energy that amalgamates everything we know and love about them: breakneck tempos, catchy melodies and a fantastic vocal performance from Dexter; but there’s an exhilarating rejuvenation at the base of a lot of the tracks here, which is why this feels like the best album they’ve done in ages. The first half of the LP is more of a fan-pleaser; delivering a selection of signature sounds from the band, as well as songs like the title-track, “Days Gone By”, which has a Foo Fighters-esque, stadium rock vibe to it and “Turning Into You” for its continued use of Rise Against as a heavy influence. These songs are solid and the influences they utilize do little in slowing the momentum they build with the album, but they hardly up the game artistically. It’s after the dodgy “Cruising California (Bumpin' In My Trunk)” where we see the band testing other waters: the slow ballad of “All I Have Left Is You”, while dragging in places, shows a pretty new dynamic to the band and something I wouldn’t mind hearing in the future, while “Dirty Magic” brings their usual shtick, but adds a few new tools to the sound to give it more of a gnarly bite, making it one of the strongest tracks here.
Days Go By is an interesting album, it’s a little cobbled together but offers an enjoyable ride from front to back. “Oc Guns” is an odd, yet charmingly fun little number, while the closing track rolls up everything any The Offspring fan could enjoy. It’s a record that still doesn’t push the boundaries as such, but offers up a solid listening experience, with glimmers of branching out from the safe-zone from time to time. The only real misfire comes from the track I started this review off with, every other track contained within offers up a reason to give this a spin at least once. Crappy marketing aside, the band have done a good job with what could be their last LP, and if that’s the case, it’s not a bad way to checkout.
Great.
EDITIONS: DIGITAL//C̶D̶//V̶I̶N̶Y̶L̶
PACKAGING: N/A
SPECIAL EDITION: N/A
