Splinter

The Offspring

Columbia Records

Bands get…

Splinter

The Offspring

Columbia Records

Bands get older, and for most, it’s a battle to keep younger listeners listening to their music.

The Offspring have somehow figured out how to steer around that. They have gotten older but have found a way to keep their music ringing in the ears of the youngsters, as well as all of those fans who have been listening to them for the past decade.

With their latest release, Splinter, The Offspring looked back onto their older material to try to grasp a little of that flavor. And what they pulled from the old, they mixed nicely with the new.

Splinter has a feel to it that is reminiscent of tracks from the band’s 1994 release, Smash. The album contains energetic rock songs that have both humor and seriousness to the lyrics, much like their smash hits “Come Out and Play (Gotta Keep ’em Separated)” and “Self Esteem.”

On the new release, they sport their first single, “Hit That,” which has gotten The Offspring back on the radio stations. But Splinter has so much more that may or may not find its way to radio.

Songs like “Worst Hangover Ever” and “When You’re in Prison” are humorous tracks that keep the album light-hearted. “Worst Hangover Ever” may very well be the anthem for the day after for college students worldwide. “I’ve got the worst hangover ever/ I’m crawling to the bathroom again/ It hurts so bad that I’m never gonna drink again.”

The album ends with “When You’re in Prison,” a funny track that is just guitar and vocals and recorded to sound very lo-fi, much like an old record found in your parents’ attic. “When you’re in prison, don’t pick up the soap, pick up the soap; because it is bad for you/ When you’re in prison, don’t pick up the soap, pick up the soap; someone will be waiting there for you.”

Other tracks on the album have a darker feel. “The Noose” and “Spare me the Details,” for example, are less humorous tracks. “The Noose,” a song about death, is hauntingly serious. “You’re only feeling stronger cause you’re body’s getting numb/ Now I lay you down/ Put the coins in your eyes/ And blow the candles out.”

“Spare me the Details” is an acoustic track reminiscent of Weezer, about a girlfriend getting too drunk and sleeping with another guy. “I’m not the one who acted like a ho/ Why must I be the one who has to know/ I’m not the one who messed up big time/ So spare me the details, if you don’t mind.”

Going back to their older style of mixing humor and gravity, The Offspring have touched on something. They have also found something of a fountain of youth, at least for a band trying to keep their fans while appealing to new, younger ones.