...And Out Come the Wolves
Matt Freeman's bass solo in Maxwell Murder is an entertaining way for Rancid to announce that simple punk songs can contain some very busy playing. The opening track races past, but its personality is unmistakable. ...And Out Come the Wolves keeps finding that balance between an immediate song and an individual performance worth noticing inside it.
The voices are crucial. Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen give the songs different kinds of roughness, and their exchanges make the record feel social even when the subject is isolation. Roots Radicals turns that shared energy into a strong chorus, while Ruby Soho gives the album one of its clearest melodies. The singing sounds worn enough to make the appeal for connection convincing.
The ska rhythms add more than a change in pace. Time Bomb has a light, clipped movement that gives the chorus room to bounce, and Daly City Train makes the transition away from the harder attack feel natural. Old Friend is another strong example, with a guitar figure that carries warmth as well as regret. These songs make the album's broader identity feel earned.
Freeman keeps adding detail elsewhere. The introduction to Journey to the End of the East Bay gives the song an immediate emotional shape before the voice arrives. The bass remains active without making the rest of the band seem like support for a soloist. That sense of musicians answering one another is a large part of the record's pleasure.
Nineteen songs leave room for a few less distinctive stretches, and some of the later fast material depends more on conviction than a unique melodic idea. The band's clear debt to earlier British punk and ska can also be difficult to miss. Yet the performances have enough character to make influence feel like a shared language.
The album succeeds through generosity: plenty of hooks, several voices and a rhythm section that rarely stops finding another useful detail. ...And Out Come the Wolves makes belonging sound like something built through playing together, with all the rough edges still audible.
