ALBUM REVIEW: Tomorrow Never Comes – Rancid

RANCID have been a fixture for such a long time when it come to punk rock (thirty plus years in fact) that it is always a massive event when they bring a new album out. From the bands early days and Bay Area punk beginnings with their self-titled debut album to hitting it big with Let’s Go to knocking it out the stratosphere with …And Out Come The Wolves, RANCID have constantly been a big deal and the resulting six albums that followed have cemented that.

Now onto their tenth album, RANCID return in fine style after a considerable gap with Tomorrow Never Comes and it sees them proudly blast out sixteen tracks of pure punk rock chaos, done in their own inimitable style which is one of passion and delivered straight from the heart. In true RANCID and in true punk style, the songs on Tomorrow Never Comes all come in at under three minutes long and are short, sharp shocks of sheer energetic punk rock, the type of which the band have always done and done so well.

With the hardcore tinged punk rock title track of the album starting proceedings off with a huge bang, RANCID never let up until the last notes of closing track When The Smoke Clears ring out and it is so good to hear new material, and even so far into their musical career, the band still sound as energised and vibrant as they always have done.

From THE POGUES-like stomp of Devil In Disguise and the raucous New American to the anthemic Live Forever, the triumphant Prisoners Song and the ultra catchy punk madness of Eddie The Butcher (complete with amazing bass intro), this is prime RANCID, with the catchiness and pure singalong vibe of the songs at the top of the pile and you know that these songs will be so good when they are played live on the band’s upcoming tours.

Tim Armstrong and Lars Fredriksen sound as good as ever as they trade vocals and guitar parts, and prove themselves once again and such fine songwriters with their witty lyrics and storytelling stability, and when you add to that, the rhythm section of bassist Matt Freeman (whose basslines constantly bolster the songs on Tomorrow Never Comes and prove exactly why he is possibly the most underrated bass player in the world) and drummer Branden Steineckert on top form, it results in the kind of utterly joyful record that you have come to love from RANCID.

With flawless production once again coming from BAD RELIGION/Epitaph Records man and longtime ally Brett Gurewitz, the band sound big, bold and bashy with this album and to borrow the title of a previous RANCID album, the band still sound Indestructible. Tomorrow Never Comes is an album that is chock a block with life affirming energy and packed full of the fiery punk rock anthems that RANCID have made their name out of and from start to finish, this is a nonstop celebration of all that makes them so great.

Rating: 9/10

Tomorrow Never Comes is set for release on June 2nd via Epitaph Records. 

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