Rock has become an increasingly important part of the band’s creative process. Let the Bad Times Roll finds the band collaborating with mega producer Bob Rock for the third time, working in Rock’s studios in Maui and Vancouver as well as the band’s own recently completed studio in Huntington Beach. “I had written most of that song five years ago and finally put it together,” says Holland. Highlights include the devastating urgency of “The Opioid Diaries” and the horn-fueled skank of “We Never Have Sex Anymore” a song that nods to the band’s cheeky humor but underneath is the story of a guy who just wants his wife to feel anything towards him, love or hate.

The material on Let the Bad Times Roll was written and recorded at various times during the last eight years. “The band was cool about it,” before adding with a laugh “and that only took five years.” “I had kept in touch with my professors and they encouraged me to come back and finish it up,” he says. in Molecular Biology from USC, a 30-year odyssey that culminated in his thesis on the makeup of the HIV virus. And Holland had something else he needed to wrap up, finally getting his Ph.D. There wasn’t a break up, no hiatus (they’ve kept up a steady level of touring during the span between albums), simply the band likes to take their time. The album is the band’s 10th, but their first new offering in eight years. SoCal legends ready to plant their punk rock flag in the sand once again with their blistering new album Let the Bad Times Roll. This is The Offspring, kids, singer Dexter Holland, guitarist Noodles, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse. The rumbling bass lines, the thundering drums, breakneck guitar riffs that explode out of the speakers and that voice, a searing howl equal parts snarl and desperation.

The sound is recognizable in the first few seconds. A Newbury Comics exclusive color vinyl pressing.

The offspring let the bad times roll