Rancid’s sixth full-length release—appropriately titled Indestructible—is a bold continuation of the neo-punk band’s brazen yet accessible style: immediate music with hook-heavy guitars and politically pointed lyrics. From the urgent Strummer-esque vocals on “Tropical London” to the two-tone ska energy within “Fall Back Down” and the present-day hardcore groove stylings of “Out of Control” (which makes this Bay area band sound very much like New York punk bands Lower East Side Stitches and PlasticEaters), Rancid pays sublime homage to classicist punk, while giving definite nods to the further expansion of the genre. The Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 features prominently in “Arrested in Shanghai,” a strident yet engagingly melodic protest song in the tradition of UK punk originators the Clash and the Business. In fact, ghosts from the ’70s London punk scene are hauntingly apparent on every single one of this disc’s 19 tracks. All in all, the raw, unbridled and unapologetic rambunctiousness of Indestructible proves Rancid hasn’t lost an ounce of their indie punk ethos, even after all these years.
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