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The Offspring | |
|---|---|
 The Offspring performing in 2024 From left: Todd Morse, Brandon Pertzborn, Dexter Holland, Jonah Nimoy and Noodles | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Manic Subsidal (1984–1986)[1] |
| Origin | Garden Grove, California, U.S.[2] |
| Genres | |
| Discography | |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Labels | |
| Members | |
| Past members | |
| Website | offspring |
The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984.[2] Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Todd Morse, multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn. The Offspring is often credited (alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, NOFX, Bad Religion, Rancid, Pennywise and Blink-182) for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 1990s.[3][4] During their 40-year career, the Offspring has released 10 studio albums and sold more than 40 million records,[5][6] making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands.[7]
The Offspring's longest-serving drummer was Ron Welty, who replaced James Lilja in 1987. He was replaced by Adam "Atom" Willard in 2003, who was replaced four years later by Pete Parada. Parada was fired in 2021 after he declined to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and was replaced two years later by Pertzborn.[8][9] Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel (one of the Offspring's co-founders) was the band's bassist until he was fired in 2018;[10] this left Holland as the sole remaining original member. Kriesel was replaced by Todd Morse, who had been the Offspring's touring guitarist since 2009.[11]
After achieving a local following with their early releases, including their 1989 self-titled debut album and the vinyl-only EP Baghdad (1991), the Offspring signed with independent label Epitaph Records and released two albums: Ignition (1992) and Smash (1994). Smash, which contained the band's first major hit "Come Out and Play", is one of the best-selling albums released on an independent record label, selling over 11 million copies worldwide and helping to propel punk rock into the mainstream.[12][13][14][15] The success of Smash attracted attention from major labels including Columbia Records, with whom the Offspring signed in 1996; their first album for the label, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), did not match its predecessor's success, but received favorable reviews and gold and platinum RIAA certifications.[13] The band reached furthest success with their fifth album Americana (1998), to which three of its singles − "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get a Job?" and "The Kids Aren't Alright" − became mainstream radio and MTV staples, while the album managed to sell over five million units in the US.[13][14][15] Though their next two albums, Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), were not as successful as those from the previous decade, they were both critically acclaimed, with the former going platinum and the latter being certified gold.[13] The Offspring's eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), cemented their comeback on the strength of its second single "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", which reached number one on the Billboard rock charts for eleven weeks and has since obtained platinum status.[13][16] The band released no new studio albums between Days Go By (2012) and Let the Bad Times Roll (2021), but continued touring and released a series of one-off songs in the interim. Their eleventh studio album, Supercharged, is set to be released on October 11, 2024.[17]
History[edit]
Early years (1984–1993)[edit]
The foundations for the Offspring began with guitarist/vocalist Bryan "Dexter" Holland (who was a drummer at the time) and bassist Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel playing music together in a garage in Cypress, California, in 1983.[18] After hearing the T.S.O.L. album Change Today? at a party and following a riot at a 1984 Social Distortion show, they decided to form a band called Manic Subsidal with Holland changing his role from drums to vocals and guitar.[19][20][21][22] Holland recruited drummer James Lilja, on an agreement that Lilja would play in Manic Subsidal, if Holland joined Lilja's band Clowns of Death.[23] After Holland played with Clowns of Death, he asked the band's guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman to join their band.[19][24] This lineup played the band's first show, taking a road trip to Santa Cruz to open for White Flag and Scared Straight, then playing a matinee the next day at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco.[23]
In 1986, after changing their name to the Offspring (after a B-movie called The Offspring: They Were Born to Kill), the band released their first single; the 7-inch "I'll Be Waiting". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. An earlier version of "I'll Be Waiting" (then known as "Fire and Ice") appeared on the long-out of print Subject to Blackout compilation tape released the same year.[25] The Offspring also recorded a demo tape in 1986, which received a positive review in Maximum Rocknroll magazine.[26] Lilja left the Offspring in 1987 to pursue a medical career in oncology[27] and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was 16 years old at the time.[28]
After recording another demo in 1988,[19] the Offspring signed a record deal with small-time label Nemesis Records. In March 1989, the band teamed up with producer Thom Wilson (who had worked with the Adolescents, Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, the Vandals, and Youth Brigade) to record their first album, titled The Offspring.[19] Nemesis released the album in limited numbers and only on the 12-inch vinyl and cassette formats; the album was not released on CD until 1995. A six-week national tour followed. Noodles was stabbed during a performance at a Hollywood anti-nuclear benefit.[19]
In 1991, the Offspring teamed up with Wilson again to produce the Baghdad 7-inch EP and a third demo tape. This EP and demo were instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records.[29] In 1992, Thom Wilson and the Offspring returned to the studio to record their second album Ignition, which was released in October of that year. The band went on U.S. tours with Pennywise and Lunachicks, and a European tour with NOFX.[24]
Mainstream success with Smash (1994–1995)[edit]
When the Offspring returned to the studio in January 1994 to record their third album,[30][31] the band's relations with producer Thom Wilson had begun to strain. Three months later, the Offspring released what would become their biggest selling album, titled Smash. The album was initially released to little mainstream attention until its lead single "Come Out and Play" received airplay from the Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, helping to raise the band's profile and eventually hitting number one on the Billboard rock charts for two weeks in the summer of 1994.[14][32][33]
The success of "Come Out and Play" not only propelled Smash to peak at number four on the Billboard 200 and receive simultaneous gold and platinum certification four months after its release,[34] but it also helped bring punk rock into the mainstream and is often considered a breakthrough album for the then-underground pop-punk and skate punk scenes.[14][32][35][36][37] The album's next two singles, "Self Esteem" and "Gotta Get Away", also had similar success to "Come Out and Play" in both chart performance and radio airplay. Smash has continued to sell consistently well in the years since its release, setting an all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at over 11 million records[12] and having sold over six million copies in the U.S. by 2000.[34] The album also sold very well outside of the U.S., particularly in Australia, where it debuted No. 1 on the ARIA Charts, and remained in that position for three weeks in 1995.
The Offspring toured extensively throughout 1994 and 1995 in support of Smash. In addition to opening for bands like Pennywise, Bad Religion, and SNFU, the band had already graduated to headliner status by the summer of 1994, when they toured North America with Guttermouth and Big Drill Car; toured Europe with Desaster Area, and then toured the US in the fall with Rancid.[38]
Touring for Smash continued throughout the first half of 1995, playing their first shows in Japan and Australia (including appearances at Big Day Out) and headlining tour dates with bands like Weezer, Quicksand, No Use for a Name, the Vandals, and Lunachicks. By the end of the album's supporting tour, the Offspring had started playing at larger venues such as theaters and arenas as opposed to the clubs and smaller venues they were previously accustomed to.[38]
Also in 1995, the band bought out the rights to their first album. Holland and Kriesel had created their own record label Nitro Records and started signing bands. One of their first releases was a re-release of the band's 1989 debut album, The Offspring. The label also signed a number of punk bands including the Vandals, Guttermouth, Jughead's Revenge, and AFI. Soon after, Nitro Records became solely Holland's responsibility.
Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One (1996–2002)[edit]
In 1996, after the success of Smash, the Offspring left Epitaph and signed with Columbia Records. Epitaph retained its rights to release the next album in Europe, while Columbia had it for all other territories. The band's attorney Peter Paterno had issued a letter to Epitaph stating that the band had "substantial and fundamental reasons" for wanting to leave the label and that Epitaph had "breached its contract".[39]
The band began writing and recording their fourth album, titled Ixnay on the Hombre, in 1996. The album was released on February 4, 1997, which was also Noodles' 34th birthday. This album was not as successful as Smash, although it did sell four million units and spawned five singles. The album saw the band move away from the political-punk themes common to many Epitaph bands and more into mainstream rock with songs like "Gone Away" and "I Choose". The video for the last track was directed by Holland himself. Dexter commented that Ixnay was probably not as well received as Smash because it was such a departure, and that many fans probably were expecting Smash Part Two.[40]
In 1998 the Offspring released Americana. Three of the album's singles, "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)"; "Why Don't You Get a Job?"; and "The Kids Aren't Alright", became the band's biggest hits and made the album the peak of the Offspring's mainstream popularity. The former song topped the charts in nine countries including Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom. "She's Got Issues" was also released as a single and was a minor hit.
In 1999, the band appeared as themselves in the film Idle Hands. They played a cover version of "I Wanna Be Sedated" (originally by the Ramones) and "Beheaded" at a school dance before Holland's character is killed. They also appeared at the infamous Woodstock 1999, where their performance was broadcast live on pay-per-view television.
2000 saw the band release their sixth album, Conspiracy of One. The band intended to release the entire album online through their website to show their support for downloading music on the internet.[41] However, under threat of legal action by Columbia through their parent company Sony, only the first single "Original Prankster" was released on their website (the rest of the record was leaked to fan sites).[42] The band also sold T-shirts on their website with the Napster logo on it and donated money to Napster creator Shawn Fanning with the profits.
The band also released a single "Defy You" exclusively for the film Orange County.
Ron Welty's departure, Splinter and Greatest Hits (2003–2005)[edit]
Longtime drummer Ron Welty left the group in 2003 to play in Steady Ground,[43][44] a band in which he played drums and co-produced (they broke up in 2007). It was later revealed that Welty was fired by Holland and Noodles "without any prior notice". That same year, the band released their seventh album, Splinter. The Offspring recruited Josh Freese to record the drums for Splinter and later announced that ex-Rocket from the Crypt drummer Atom Willard would be the replacement for Ron Welty. The first single, "Hit That", had moderate success on MTV. "Hit That" used a variety of electronic samples, different from what the Offspring has done in the past.[45]
In 2005, the band released a Greatest Hits album in both DualDisc and regular CD editions. Greatest Hits contains 14 of the band's hits between Smash and Splinter, and two previously unreleased songs, "Can't Repeat" and "Next to You" (a cover of the Police available as a hidden track). The compilation does not include any songs from the band's first two albums. The DualDisc contains video of Dexter and Noodles discussing the band's history and a bonus acoustic version of the song "Dirty Magic". About a month later, the band released a video DVD with all of their music videos and some videos from a live show.
During the summer of 2005, the band played the Vans Warped Tour for the first time and followed that with a European and Japanese tour. After the "Greatest Hits" world tour, the band took a break from writing, recording, and touring. During the hiatus, Willard was recruited by Tom DeLonge for his band Angels & Airwaves and released an album, We Don't Need to Whisper, in 2006.
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2006–2009)[edit]
In November 2006, it was reported that the Offspring were back in the studio recording their eighth studio album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace with producer Bob Rock and "a fistful of demos". In July 2007, Dexter announced that the band had finished two more songs and the album was being recorded in Orange County, California.[46]
It was announced on July 27, 2007, that former Saves the Day drummer Pete Parada had been chosen to be the Offspring's new drummer, replacing Atom Willard, who went to focus on Angels and Airwaves. The band's first shows with Parada were at the Summer Sonic festival in Japan in August 2007.[47] It was during these shows that the band debuted "Hammerhead", which would become the first single from the new album. Parada did not play on the new album however; Josh Freese once again handled drum duties as he did with Splinter.[48]
The Offspring co-headlined the Australian Soundwave Festival during February and May 2008 alongside Incubus and Killswitch Engage.
On April 9, 2008, Dexter announced that the album would be called Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace and would be released on June 17.[49] The album's first single, "Hammerhead", went to radio on May 6.[50] Additionally, the Offspring's website provided an MP3 download of the song to the general public on May 5.[51] The second single from the album, "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", had topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for 11 weeks, a record for the band. It was also the Offspring's only RIAA Gold song, proving it to be one of the most successful singles the band had released in their over 20-year career. Despite this, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace has never received any RIAA certifications.
Also in April 2008, Epitaph Records announced that the label would be reissuing Ignition and Smash; both albums were remastered and Smash contained a new 24-page booklet. The reissues were released on the same day as Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, coinciding with the new album's release.[52]
The supporting tour for the album began on May 16 with a performance at the X-Fest festival in California. On May 28, it was announced on the band's website that Scott Shiflett (from Face to Face) would replace bassist Greg K. on current tour dates due to a birth in the family. Kriesel returned in mid-June.[53] In October, with the addition of touring guitarist Andrew Freeman, the band embarked on a three-week Japanese tour followed by a South American tour.
On December 13, 2008, the Offspring headlined the nineteenth annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. In an interview at the Almost Acoustic Christmas show, guitarist Noodles stated that the Offspring would be taking a break for a month or two and promised a US tour to kick off in 2009.[54] They toured North America on their "Shit is Fucked Up" tour from May through July with Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Street Dogs, Pennywise, Shiny Toy Guns, Sum 41, and Frank Turner.[55]
Days Go By (2010–2013)[edit]
In May 2009, the band started doing preliminary work with Bob Rock in Hawaii for what would be the ninth Offspring album. They recorded sporadically throughout the next year. In June 2010 the Offspring headlined two dates in Western Canada.[56] The Offspring took a break from the studio in order to join 311 on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19-date tour was held in amphitheaters around the U.S. and also featured Pepper as a special guest. Before the 311 and Pepper tour, the Offspring played four West Coast dates in June, which were supported by Terrible Things.[57][58] In January 2011, session drummer Josh Freese (who recorded drum tracks for the band's last two albums) mentioned on his website that he was in the studio working with the Offspring again.[59] Ronnie King had also confirmed that he would appear as the album’s keyboardist after performing the same role on Splinter.[60] The band interrupted their work in 2011 in order to tour and took the main stage at the 2011 Reading and Leeds Festivals.[61]
After the tour, the band started recording in earnest and it was later announced that the album was in the mixing stage.[62] They headlined the PunkSpring Festival in Japan on March 31, 2012, in Tokyo and on April 1, 2012, in Osaka with Sum 41, New Found Glory, and All Time Low.[63] At one of the shows, the Offspring performed a new song called "The Future Is Now". They were also confirmed to play at the Rock am Ring/im Park and Novarock festivals in the summer 2012.[64][65] Prior to that, the band would be playing at the 20th annual KROQ Weenie Roast, which was to take place at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in