Musical musings | Punk legends the Offspring return to rock Australia!

The group’s success opened the doors for bands in the then-burgeoning pop-punk genre.

Thirty years later, The Offspring have racked up a back catalogue of albums and hits, and their recently new album Supercharged continues the trajectory.

While the band continues to experiment with styles, their signature sound remains constant.

“We don't want to change too much,” Noodles, the group’s lead guitarist told this column last week.

“We always try to make things sound a little bit better every time, along with a guitar sound that's thicker, fuller, fatter, but still cuts through.

“We’re always experimenting with that, but it really comes down to Dexter’s [Holland, vocalist and rhythm guitarist] songwriting.

“He's got a certain sensibility and when it comes to melodies and things like that and rhythms, his voice is very distinctive.

“I don't think there's anyone that quite sounds like him.”

An example of the group’s experimentation is showcased on Come To Brazil, a track on the new album that introduces thrash metal into the punk-rock equation.

“That was one of the few songs we've ever done where the idea of the lyric came first, and then we built on that, and we're like, ‘well, we're writing a song about Brazil, so what's it going to be like?’” Noodles said.

“We’ve got to have some thrash metal up front, right.

“And then a big anthemic chorus, and then at the end we go with the soccer chant.

“I think we were trying to channel Sepultura [Brazilian heavy metal band] on this one.”

The group has just announced an Australian tour for May 2025 and is looking forward to returning to perform to their Australian fans.

“We've been coming to Australia for almost 30 years now,” Noodles said.

“Our first time was at the Big Day Out in ‘95, and since then, we've come over, and have done a number of festivals and some headlining shows as well.

“We love it here, so we're glad to be coming back.”

Noodles believes punk-rock has been elevated to a position where its elements today can be found in everything from pop to hip-hop.

“Everybody is using elements of punk rock, from hip-hop people to rock bands, heavy metal rock bands to pop acts,” Noodles said.

“You're seeing Lady Gaga has infused elements of punk in what she does, as does Chappell Roan too.

“I don't know if Taylor Swift is punk, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could find something in there somewhere.”

Tickets for The Offspring 2025 Australian Tour are on sale now from destroyalllines.com

Music news

Blues rock legends ZZ Top, along with special guests George Thorogood & The Destroyers, will be touring Australia in April-May 2025 as part of their Elevation Tour.

It’s been more than a decade since ZZ Top were last here on these shores, and two years since George Thorogood & The Destroyers were last here.

Thorogood also recently announced he would do one more world tour before retiring.

New albums to look forward to in 2025 include The Bad Fire from Scottish post-rockers Mogwai (due January), Parasomnia from American prog-metal group Dream Theater (due February) and The Right Person Will Stay from Americana queen Lana Del Rey (due May).

Also coming in 2025 are new studio albums by Blondie, Kesha and Mötley Crüe.

On the promo trail for her newly-released memoir, Cher revealed that she’s working on a new album and also stated that it will probably be her last.

The view from here

1970s American rock band Boston have often been cited as one of the pivotal groups who initiated the beginning of corporate rock, a term that is defined as music specifically aimed for the mass market and arenas.

Yet, prior to Boston, many groups were arena-selling groups, such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

What made Boston unique though, and a forerunner to the groups that followed in their path, such as Journey, Def Leppard and numerous others to this day, is the fact that their 1976 self-titled debut was the biggest selling debut album of all time, until Guns N’ Roses’ 1987 debut album surpassed it.

In 1976, you could not go anywhere without hearing More Than A Feeling, the single taken from Boston’s debut album, on radio stations everywhere, saturating the airwaves.

Due to its heavy rock elements and radio friendly melody and sound, it opened the floodgates for similar sounding groups to achieve mass market commercial saturation, thus earning the tag of, ‘corporate rock’.

And what is wrong with that? Doesn’t every musician want their music heard by as many people as possible?

What is also remarkable about Boston’s story too, is that at the time, the music scene was in the midst of disco’s huge popularity, and a debut album by a then-unknown rock band shook the playlists of radio stations to its core with the album’s stadium-sized riffs, sweet ear-candy melodies, topped up by a radio friendly polish, the antithesis to all that was disco and popular on radio at the time.

When the album was released in August of 1976, it quickly found favour with music fans, selling its first million albums within months of release, and firmly placing itself on the charts for more than two years.

Its influence would also inspire another band, a generation later when Seattle musical juggernaut Nirvana cleverly regurgitated the riff to More Than A Feeling into its own anthem, Smells Like Teen Spirit, and in turn, Nirvana repeated the same outcome as Boston’s debut had achieved by ushering in what became known as the ‘grunge’ 90s.

The enduring influence of Boston’s debut can still be felt today in much of the commercially successful music heard on everyday rock radio.

This week’s global album charts

US Billboard Top 200 #1: Golden Hour: Part.2 – Ateez

Australian ARIA Top 50 #1: GNX – Kendrick Lamar

UK Official Top 50 #1: GNX – Kendrick Lamar

Fun fact

The oldest known musical instrument – the Neanderthal Flute – dates back to 50,000 years ago and was found in a cave in Slovenia in 1995.

The pre-historic instrument, which was made from cave bear bones, can still be played today and according to those that have played it, it “sounds hauntingly beautiful”.

Joe Matera is a local singer-songwriter, recording artist, guitarist and music journalist providing readers with all the latest music news.