Written by Joe Compton
RANCID -
TOMORROW NEVER COMES
RELEASED: JUNE 2ND, 2023
GENRE: PUNK ROCK
RELEASED BY HELLCAT RECORDS & EPITAPH
LENGTH 28:47
PRODUCED BY BRETT GUREWITZ
This is the 10th Studio Album released by California Punk Legends Rancid. It features the familiar faces of Tim Armstrong on vocals, guitars, Lars Frederiksen on guitars, vocals, Matt Freeman on bass guitar, vocals, and Branden Steineckert (who joined the band in 2009) on the drums, percussion. The artwork and cover design was all done by Tim Armstrong.
TRACK LISTING:
| 1. | "Tomorrow Never Comes" | Armstrong, Frederiksen, Freeman | 2:26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | "Mud, Blood, & Gold" | Armstrong, Frederiksen, Freeman | 1:12 |
| 3. | "Devil in Disguise" | Armstrong | 1:58 |
| 4. | "New American" | Armstrong | 2:37 |
| 5. | "The Bloody & Violent History" | Armstrong, Frederiksen, Freeman | 2:14 |
| 6. | "Don't Make Me Do It" | Armstrong | 0:58 |
| 7. | "It's a Road to Righteousness" | Armstrong | 2:18 |
| 8. | "Live Forever" | Armstrong | 1:21 |
| 9. | "Drop Dead Inn" | Frederiksen | 2:01 |
| 10. | "Prisoners Song" | Armstrong, Frederiksen, Freeman | 2:21 |
| 11. | "Magnificent Rogue" | Frederiksen | 1:25 |
| 12. | "One Way Ticket" | Armstrong | 1:50 |
| 13. | "Hellbound Train" | Armstrong | 1:25 |
| 14. | "Eddie the Butcher" | Armstrong | 1:34 |
| 15. | "Hear Us Out" | Armstrong | 1:26 |
| 16. | "When the Smoke Clears" | Armstrong | 1:39 |
FAVORITE TRACK: DEVIL IN DISGUISE & NEW AMERICAN
WHAT THIS ALBUM DOES WELL: Okay in the fairness of full disclosure I am not one of those fans who liked only the first 2 albums and maybe the third and that's it. Has everything they have done been to my liking though? The answer is no. However no matter where you fall on that line there is 1 thing you can not deny, and that's these guys are the pilars and stalwarts of the modern day punk rock genre. They have tough shoes to fill coming out of the 90's with 3 of the most listened too and praised punk rock albums ever made and they yet, here on their 10th attempt, sound just as good and constistant as the ever have. For some, that constistancy has led to compliancy, that sound has become so much theirs that it seems like they might be doing a cover of themselves. For me I would say okay, I get that, and while I think that has been true of other albums in the catalogue for sure, this one rings a little different for this listener.
First this album right from track 1, which is TOMORROW NEVER COMES, the title track, punches you in the face and just keeps pounding you till well into EDDIE THE BUTCHER. Its the kind of missing staple that has come with some of the Rancid offerings like Let's Go. There is 16 tracks in all and they all hum and spit fire as hard and as fast as they can. Yes, there is the occassional tempo change, and different arrangements but this album feels like a return to the roots that has been missing at least from the last couple efforts and a couple in between.
For those of you who read this blog regularly know I often talk about these icon bands looking to change themselves, do something experimental and different and Rancid was not the exception to that rule. They did a lot of that. Now I will say while they experimented, they stayed in a comfortable lane more than they didn't. They also arranged those differently. Wherein "Tommorrow" seems very much in the output that those first 2 albums had. Obviously its hard to capture that rarified air that follows those iconic albums and this may take a few folks time to let it grow into that and maybe it doesn't get there. That's for history to decide but its hard to deny that it feels like they were simplifying what is Rancid more than they have before here. As someone who holds those albums in the highest of esteem I appreciate what was done here. For me Let's Go, their 2nd album needed some marinating in the eardrums before I fully appreciated a lot of what that album did. The marinating was a little faster here with this one.
The other thing I think really stands out for me is that Rancid has always captured this lost, underdog feeling of what it was like for me as a youth and this wayward vegabond way that related to me in so much of the lyrical content. However it wasn't just relating but it always struck me as cleverly and fluently a context that was just a smarter way to convey things and yet never lose tempo doing so. As some of these lyrics were layered with just amazing cadences of utter brilliance, "I said what's your name she said Mya, She said Tim, want to take you higher ." - Rats In The Hallway or "Apology's too late when you're up against the wall
For those of you who read this blog regularly know I often talk about these icon bands looking to change themselves, do something experimental and different and Rancid was not the exception to that rule. They did a lot of that. Now I will say while they experimented, they stayed in a comfortable lane more than they didn't. They also arranged those differently. Wherein "Tommorrow" seems very much in the output that those first 2 albums had. Obviously its hard to capture that rarified air that follows those iconic albums and this may take a few folks time to let it grow into that and maybe it doesn't get there. That's for history to decide but its hard to deny that it feels like they were simplifying what is Rancid more than they have before here. As someone who holds those albums in the highest of esteem I appreciate what was done here. For me Let's Go, their 2nd album needed some marinating in the eardrums before I fully appreciated a lot of what that album did. The marinating was a little faster here with this one.
The other thing I think really stands out for me is that Rancid has always captured this lost, underdog feeling of what it was like for me as a youth and this wayward vegabond way that related to me in so much of the lyrical content. However it wasn't just relating but it always struck me as cleverly and fluently a context that was just a smarter way to convey things and yet never lose tempo doing so. As some of these lyrics were layered with just amazing cadences of utter brilliance, "I said what's your name she said Mya, She said Tim, want to take you higher ." - Rats In The Hallway or "Apology's too late when you're up against the wall
Compassion heals while duplicity kills." - The Way I Feel
This album is no exception, chalk full of examples of how clever the songwriting really is and how it flows within the music's nature essence, " That's where we met Calico Jim, We drank his money and his bathtub gin" - New American. While you can say that there is one of these examples in nearly every single Rancid album, being even more a staple of this band than their sound is no matter how much they stray from the conventional first 2 albums' sound, this album feels different. There is a longing and sense of finding yourself that I think has, dare I say, a more mature and sophisicated overall feel to them. NEW AMERICAN is a great example of this and its one of those that I think grabs you on the very first listen. It also flairs a very nice tempo change that does break up the beginning of this album. You even get the sense in the more anthem-like tunes, like DEVIL IN DISGUISE, there is growth of understanding about your lot in life and where you are and how lucky you are to be there. I think past albums have tried to look back and just haven't felt as authentic and observant as this lyrical content does here. I really dig that about this album and maybe its more because of where I am in my own life. I obviously am a bit older but still feel like I have grown as Rancid has grown and does so with them in a lot of the phases of my life. This seems like one of those more natural progressions.
The production is stellar here as well, Brett Gurewitz has produced so many of these albums that you see his growth here as well but you also feel comforted by his understanding of what Rancid is and what they should sound like. So the distortion of that first album is present and flutters in with the song arrangements very easily at times but sometimes it does seem a bit manufactured. I think again Rancid has always felt like they found their lane a long time ago and try not to stray too far from it. Sometimes though the natural essence of who they are what they do outside of Rancid has leaked in and I for one think that's okay because of what does happen in the middle of this album if you listen all the way through in a sitting. There is a little bit where you lose your way and a couple songs blend into a couple other songs. The challenge there is to separate them and I think a lot more of the songs that get lost do come across a bit different in doing it that way. I like a lot of the songs I feel like I missed the 2nd time around, listening to them on their own and not within the album structure. That's kind of how Let's Go came to grab me evenutally and I think Tomorrow Never Comes will do the same.
Now as far as who this is for...if you are a fan of Let's Go, yes this album will never be that but I do feel like over time if you give it a chance you will gravitate to a few tracks here if not quite a few. A couple of them may even jump out at you right away. If you are someone who just thinks this sucks because its not the first album nor the middle ones which again were more experimental, that sucks for you because I guarantee you when they play them live, a lot of these tracks will hum in between Hyena and Old Friend and seem like they belong on the setlist. It fits their mold and stays in the lane they have paved for 30 years here very easily and very nicely. So open your mind a little and let it sink in or see them live and let it take you higher.
YOU CAN GET THIS ALBUM HERE ON BANDCAMP
YOU CAN GET THIS ALBUM HERE ON BANDCAMP
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