Album Review: The Offspring – Supercharged
3 min read
In the early 90s The Offspring, along with Green Day and Blink-182, were credited with ushering in a new era of punk. Defined by the sarcastic humour that permeates their best-known songs such as Pretty Fly for a White Guy and Why Don’t You Get a Job?, they paved the way for a new kind of punk rock. Their eleventh album Supercharged, comes almost forty years into their career and was described by the band as a celebration of their career.
Several of the songs deal with personal topics, with two exploring feeling pressured in a relationship. Ok, but this is the last time and The Fall Guy could tell a linear story from denial to acceptance. In Ok, but this is the last time, the desperate scream style vocals, beg “I’ll do anything” as the singer talks bout being persuaded to drink. However in The Fall Guy the rapid lyrics singing “I’ve never been okay with the things you made me do” marks a shift. The Offsprings trade mark “woah woahs” in the backing and the catchy sound shows progression even across the two tracks making it neatly tie in.
The Offspring have regularly aimed their focus on political and social issues in the past, in songs such as Americana and Stuff is Messed Up. In Supercharged they take on very 21st-century issues in Truth in Fiction where they rail against AI and deep fakes, singing “reality is fading, the truth is in the past”. The song’s cynical tone and rapid drumline create a sense of anxiety and building tension, becoming something that is very much a Punk song for 2024. They again take on this cynical tone in Looking out for #1, the joyful chorus contrasts with the lyrics “we use to believe in hope and dreams” and discussions of disillusionment. The songs catchy close to pop sound, stands out in a song about selling out.
Come to Brazil is the song that most takes on the sarcastic playful humour that earlier Offspring songs have. Named for a Twitter meme, where fans will spam comment “come to Brazil” at their favourite artists, the song is an ode to their Brazilian fans as they sing “All our fans are great but the ones from Brazil really take the cake”. The chorus is modelled for a football chant, and the famous Ole Ole Ole chant is interspersed into the outro. Cheerful and fun, with internet humour seamlessly incorporated, this is perhaps the most memorable song on Supercharged.
Despite many memorable songs, there is a tendency across other tracks on the album to be slightly indistinguishable. Get some and Hang by a Thread both struggle to find their niche and being placed next to each other on the album makes it even more obvious. However, You can’t get there from here as the last track brings it back together. With synth sounds and a darker sound, the song takes on themes of anxiety and despair stopping you from succeeding. However despite the darker tone and lyrics like “you built your palace of pain” it is one of the catchiest songs on the album with an infectious drumline, and a very memorable chorus.
With Supercharged The Offspring shows that they are very much a band that can move with the times, while still retaining the sound that made them so popular. The album harkens back to the best of their previous work while still leaving room for more modern sounds, proving why they’re one of the best-selling punk bands of all time.
