Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. This is the first posting in my new online venture, titled Maximum Punk Rock. I don't really have much of a plan as to where this will go, so I will just be "winging it" at first, until I find my stride. I have wanted to do a zine for a while, but kept getting stuck in the ideas phase, never committing anything to post or paper. So, I decided to just go ahead and write. We'll see where this goes.
First off, I would like to talk about this thing...
In case you haven't heard, Rancid is releasing their entire catalog as a 7" 45 box set, consisting of 46 records. Certainly a "collectors only" item, since this is probably the most difficult format to listen to every song Rancid has recorded. The label putting this out, Pirates Press from San Francisco, stated that the songs have been remastered for "audiophile quality", whatever that means. There is even an optional Rancid Louisville Slugger baseball bat that is available with the set (don't ask me why).
I have to admit, Rancid are one of my favorite bands. I listened to these guys way before they became famous, back when their only claim to fame was that some guys from Operation Ivy were in the band. The first EP was awesome, as was every album up to Life Won't Wait, which was the first time I was disappointed by their work. The following albums were again brilliant, until Let The Dominoes Fall, which I have only listened to a few unimpressive times. As I write this, they are apparently working on their 8th album. Hopefully, it will not be another disappointment.
Anybody old enough to remember when Rancid first appeared on MTV will remember the shit-storm of controversy surrounding the move. Rancid was by no means the first punk rock band to end up on that dreaded network, but they certainly received the greatest backlash from it. Almost every punk zine around criticized them for it, especially the venerated Maximum Rocknroll, who published nothing but criticism, bad reviews, and even (some obviously made-up) stories about their rock star antics and gratuitous purchases. At the time, I jumped on the "bash Rancid" bandwagon and stopped listening to them for a while. I eventually changed my mind, however. Although I would have preferred they remained independent, it is their band and their decision. Years later, it appears to have been the right choice for them.
Anyway, enough of that. Here is Rancid's new single, which will not appear on the 7" box set, but instead on the Oi! This Is Streetpunk Vol.2 compilation...
Rancid New Single - "Fuck You"
