Offspring, The

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THE OFFSPRING

Formed: 1984, Garden Grove, California

Members: Bryan "Dexter" Holland, vocals (born Long Beach, California, 29 December 1966); Greg Kriesel, bass (born Glendale, California, 12 January 1965); Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, guitar (born Los Angeles, California, 4 February 1963); Ron Welty, drums (born Long Beach, California, 1 February 1971).

Genre: Rock, Punk

Best-selling album since 1990: Smash (1994)

Hit songs since 1990: "Come Out and Play," "Self-Esteem," "Pretty Fly for a White Guy"

The Offspring turned punk's nihilism on its head with lyrics just as likely to satirize itself or its fans as the "establishment."

The group's willingness to subvert punk, whose calling card is supposedly its subversion, can be found in its roots. Bryan Holland and some friends were unable to crash a 1986 concert by seminal Los Angeles punk band Social Distortion, and afterward vowed to form their own band. It seemed like a sour-grapes boast, but Holland actually learned the guitar and the following year formed Manic Subsidal, which would by 1989 become Offspring.

Playing a fusion of surf rock and skate-punk, the band was discovered in 1989 by Bad Religion founder and Epitaph Records owner Brett Gurewitz. He released the group's debut Offspring (1989), which sold a modest 3,000 copies. In the meantime, the members kept the band going on the side as they attended college. Drummer Ron Welty earned an electronics degree, bassist Greg Kriesel a finance degree, and Holland a master's degree in molecular biology. In an interview, Holland knowingly tweaked punksters as "smart kids trying to pretend they're not."

Ignition (1992) followed, selling a respectable 100,000 copies but not impressing the members enough to quit their jobs or studies. But the group's third album, Smash (1994), hit at just the right time—MTV was helping create a punk revival by hyping bands like Rancid and Green Day, and Offspring had accessible, offbeat material that unintentionally fit the new trend while not seeming like a clone of the others.

The first single "Come Out and Play" opened the doors, while the follow-up "Self-Esteem" kept the momentum going. Critics agree "Self-Esteem" does not win any points for musical originality—it is a "lafadoso" song, that is, a song that uses the typical 1990s alternative rock repeating bass line of la, fa, do, and so. However, the biting lyrics about an insecure guy who keeps coming back to an unfaithful girlfriend struck a vein among many teenagers, while the cheeky double entendre, "I took her back and made her dessert," maintains punk irreverence. The third single "Gotta Get Away" features a black and white video that portrays the mosh pit with stark drama. More musically complex than "Self-Esteem," the song tickles album rock fans' ears with its crunchy guitar and Holland's relatively melodic singing.

Selling about 5 million copies in the United States, Smash became the best-selling independent album in history. But Offspring jumped to major label Columbia, while Gurewitz accused the band of going corporate. With the band's Columbia debut Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), it seemed that Gurewitz would get the last laugh. The group's sense of humor is muted, and "Change the World" expresses disillusionment with Gurewitz.

However, Americana (1998) represents a return of the mischievous spark. The first single "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" pokes fun at suburban kids who pretend to be gangsta rappers, while "Why Don't You Get a Job" takes aim at slackers over a whimsical groove that recalls the Beatles' "Ob La Di."

Conspiracy of One (2000) continues in the same vein, with the band rocking out over fast-paced, mosh-pit ready tunes, but much of the material seems to merely borrow from past inspiration. In a typically irreverent move, the band announced in 2003 that its forthcoming album would be titled Chinese Democracy, which Guns N' Roses had announced several years earlier would be the title of its long-delayed album. "You snooze, you lose," Holland quipped.

Offspring dealt with the contradictions of being a mainstream punk band with humor and aplomb, and argued that there were more things for rebellious rockers to skewer than just the police, school, and parents.

Spot Light: "Come Out and Play"

While Rancid bragged about relieving the rich of their valuables on "Salvation" and Green Day dissed the workaday world on "Longview," the other mid-1990s punk breakout, Offspring, got its first hit with a more conservative point of view, criticizing gang culture and a lenient justice system. "Come Out and Play" contains all the sloppy musical credentials of punk: Vocalist Bryan Holland ominously speaks, but does not quite rap, the verses about kids going to school with guns. The chorus kicks in with a three-note hard rock guitar riff, while Holland does his best not to overenunciate. However, Holland is the rare punk rocker who expresses a dim view of the young male trend toward heightened machismo and sensitivity to slights: "Hey, man, you talking back to me? / Take him out." He also mocks the idea of trying teenagers as juveniles: "You're under 18 / you won't be doing any time." The song, which first made airplay charts in July 1994, does not follow traditional punk ideology. Unfortunately, it foreshadows the increase in school gun violence during the late 1990s. The Offspring would go on to make more blunt and often humorous statements about American life, but this serious indictment of youth culture and the juvenile justice system put it on the map.