Thursday, January 01, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Listening Station

The Offspring

Splinter

The Offspring have always been better at singles than albums. Over the years the Orange County pop punk band has released several solid and catchy songs (among them "Self Esteem," "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" and "Original Prankster") that break up the monotony of corporate radio, often with a healthy dose of humor. But the Offspring have never really had the knack for putting together an entire album that's consistently good and cohesive.

Splinter, the band's seventh disc, is no different. It's a mixed bag of hard-driving metallic punk, offbeat gimmicky tracks and some musical experimentation. It's the kind of album that you want to snag two or three cool songs from to include on a mix disc.

The highlights come when the Offspring opt for a lighter touch. "The Worst Hangover Ever" is a catchy ska/reggae ditty about the time-honored subject of drinking to excess, while "Spare Me the Details" focuses on the painful (in this case, painfully funny) aftermath of a girlfriend's straying dalliances. The album's obligatory gag song is "When You're in Prison," offering sage advice for the prison newbie that sounds like a 1930s-era folk field recording.

The rest of the album consists of the metal and punk anthems that Offspring's diehard fans demand. If I had to guess, guitarist Noodles was listening to a lot of old Judas Priest and Dio albums before and during the recording of Splinter, as several of the songs reflect that early '80s metal sound (sans the solos). The opening track, "Neocon," sounds ominously like Orcs going to war, which is fine except it's not clear what this brief track is meant to say. Are the Offspring mocking W.'s chest-beating in foreign affairs or celebrating it? "Race Against Myself" is earnest, introspective rock that takes itself awfully seriously for the wry Offspring mindset. "Da Hui," "Long Way Home" and "Lightning Rod" adequately echo the Offspring's catalog of supercharged arena punk. The experimentation, such as it is, comes on the first single," "Hit That," which is dominated by keyboards. This okay song, however, isn't likely to score on radio like previous Offspring hits.

Splinter is an excellent EP, but a fairly average album.--Geoff Schumacher

The Streets

All Got Our Runnins

Around this time last year, Mike Skinner--a.k.a. The Streets--was one of the most respected new musicians anywhere. Famous for his thick--some say mock--Cockney accent, the Brit's acclaimed debut album, Original Pirate Material, featured brutally honest rhymes that reflected the sociocultural commentary of older English artists like the Kinks and Ian Dury, rather than the one-dimensional, thug-like posturing of most American and British hip hop. Also on the glorified bedroom disc, he exhibited a knack for unique two-step garage beats that gave him more credibility and character than his countrymen peers (see Artful Dodger and Solid State).

A year later, he's no longer hot shit, if only because he's stopped touring and promoting Material. But while homeboy is in the studio working on his sophomore album, he's attempting to whet our appetite with a download-only EP titled All Got Our Runnins. Mostly from the Material sessions, Runnins is nearly divided evenly between new compositions and remixes, and it nearly feels like a brand new album.

The four remixes are fully reimagined tracks, from producer Ashley Beedle's dominant house beats lacing "Weak Become Heroes," to the jungle-like dementia subverting "It's Come to This" (originally "Has It Comes to This?") even further. Skinner even remixes one of his best tracks, "Let's Push Things Forward," adding the talents of this year's British hip-hop breakthrough, Dizzee Rascal. The three original songs cover the wide scope of emotions and perspectives the artist is known for, as "Streets Score" (both instrumental and sung) gives off an atmosphere of solitude and reflection, while the title track is more despondent and dead end. "Give Me Back My Lighter" is far lighter, the emcee playfully singing along with a chorus of singers.

There's a lot of range covered for such a small package, perhaps elevating expectations, but for what's essentially a supplemental release, Skinner doesn't hint at any developing laziness or artistic complacency--boding well for the important follow-up record. (Visit Apple's iTunes Music Store or vice-recordings.com for download instructions.)--Mike Prevatt

Joss Stone

The Soul Sessions

On the front cover of The Soul Sessions, Joss Stone is obscured by a microphone filter and cast in a purple glow, making her look like a Motown-era soulstress. Adding to this illusion of antiquity (and, thereby, authenticity) is a back cover that lists Stone's songs--nine R&B standards and a cover of the White Stripes' "Fell in Love With a Boy"--on vintage jukebox labels.

The truth is, though, that Stone is not at all what her album's clever packaging presents. A quick flip through the liner notes reveals that she's not a seasoned soul queen; she's a stick-skinny, 16-year-old blonde--apparently, the U.K.'s projected answer to America's popstar-opoly. And The Soul Sessions isn't a remastered classic supplemented by a cool, contemporary cover song; it's Stone's ambitious introduction to pop music's image-devouring public.

Which isn't to suggest that Stone can't sing, because she most certainly can. At times--particularly on adaptations of Bobby Miller's "Dirty Man" and Aretha Franklin's "All the King's Horses"--Stone's Siren's song comes on as smooth as polished glass. And her ?uestlove-produced cover of the White Stripes is interesting (if not inspired). Of course, it doesn't hurt that Stone has been mentored by R&B legend Betty Wright and that she's backed by grizzled jukesters such as Willie "Little Beaver" Hale, Angelo Morris and Timmy Thomas (the one-hit wonder responsible for the 1972 chart-topper "Why Can't We Live Together").

Still, this all-star backing crew is not enough to fill the emotional void behind Stone's words. Soul--particularly the good, grungy Detroit soul--is the product of joy and pain (a range of emotions Stone clearly has not experienced). She can howl herself blue on "Some Kind of Wonderful," but like her cover photo, her music will always feel like a knockoff--a skillful forgery of something once meaningful, now mass-produced.--Newt Briggs