It has been exactly five years and 232 since Rancid has shelled out a piece of original music. In that time, Jack White has released five albums, two different presidents have held down the White House, and the Cubs, well, have continued to choke.
Needless to say, the band’s recently unveiled new single, “Last One to Die”, is a very long time coming. Yet if this is any indication as what it is to come when the band’s seventh full-length effort, Let The Domino’s Fall, hits record stores on June 2nd, then the wait was well worth it.
Clocking it at just over two minutes and twenty seconds, “Last One to Die” exuberates the pop-punk Rancid of …And Out Come the Wolves, a song that just drips with catchiness and melodies, yet maintains a grittiness, primarily thanks to the one-of-a-kind vocals of frontman of Tim Armstrong, that will attract even the most cynical of punks. Yes, it offer nothing new in terms of musicality, or style, is no different than “Radio”, “Time Bomb”, or any of the other countless Rancid-produced, radio-approved gems, but for a band that has done everything from dabble in reggae to rock out hardcore style, you can’t blame them for playing it safe, at least for its first single in five years. After all, if the Booker T. Jones guest appearance is any indication, there certainly will be some diversity.
All that being said, Let The Domino’s Fall will likely be the band’s last hurrah, and so far, so good.
June 2nd can’t come soon enough.
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