One of my favourite albums is Rancid's 1995 lp ...And Out Come The Wolves. It's not original or groundbreaking or envelope pushing. It's just a record full of two-to-three minute punk songs, with a side order of ska, brilliantly recorded guitars, gut busting vocals and guttersnipe Californian street poetry. It is, as Billy Childish might put it, placing authenticity over originality. And if you're going to listen to an American 90s punk band I'd take Rancid over the masses of also-rans and pop-punkers that came after them. Rancid meant it, man, and sounded great too.
Daly City Train
I love that album, there's so much Strummer in there it's silly but who cares, when it's done with as much feel as they put in. Their other stuff is pretty good too, but nothing hits as hard as that one album.
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