Rancid
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- This page is about a musical group; for the process of food becoming rancid, see rancidification.
Rancid is a punk band formed in 1991 in Berkeley, California, by former members of Operation Ivy, Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong. Rancid includes four members; Tim Armstrong on guitar and vocals, with Matt Freeman as backing vocalist and bassist, and Brett Reed (b. July 12, 1972, in Oakland, California, U.S.A.) as drummer. After searching for a second guitar player in 1993, Matt met Lars Frederiksen and he was added to the band on guitar and vocals, to round out the line up.
Contents |
History
Rancid's musical style blends punk and hardcore with ska, reggae, rocksteady, and minor elements of dub and funk. Among mainstream audiences, Rancid are best-known for "Ruby Soho" and "Time Bomb" from the 1995 recording ...And Out Come the Wolves.
Rancid was very popular throughout the 1990s, with the band touring constantly from 1993 through 1998. They have released 6 full-length albums, the first 4 through the independent label, Epitaph Records, along with numerous 7" vinyls and singles. Following the success of Let's Go, which garnered gold status in the U.S. with 500,000 copies sold, the band was pursued by several major labels, including Madonna's Maverick Records; Rancid chose to stick with Epitaph despite these offers.
Rancid's self-titled 2000 album was released on Hellcat Records, and their 2003 record, Indestructible, was released by Hellcat Records with Warner Brothers distrubuting the record. After that, Rancid went on hiatus and all members were able to continue their work with side projects. The group did not completely disband.
In February 2005, it was announced by Lars Frederiksen on British radio show "The Lock Up" on BBC Radio 1 that Rancid would begin recording again at the end of 2005, with a release scheduled for sometime in 2006. More on this is expected once the Rancid website overhaul is finished. Rancid is scheduled to play an acoustic set every other night during the Hellcat Records nights starting March 7, 2006. This will be their first time playing together since Tim Armstrong's band The Transplants broke up, It has been rumoured that during one of the Hellcat Records nights that Rancid announced that they are releasing their new album in early 2007 and breaking up afterwards. They also said they would be doing a tour later on this year and no tour after the new album arrives to support it. However there have been no sources to support this claim.
Rancid recently announced on their myspace blog that July 2006 will be the start of a worldwide Rancid tour to coincide with the release of a Rancid DVD that includes 31 Rancid Music Videos covering the years 1993-2003. In addition, they will have a new record release in the springtime of 2007. The statement is available here
Their songs and albums are based on hard times ("7 Years Down," "Hyena"), world issues ("Rigged On A Fix," "Brixton," "Rwanda"), old friends ("Old Friend," "Golden Gate Fields"), unity ("As one," "Avenues and Alleyways") and love ("She's Automatic", "Corazon de Oro").
The band has recently relaunched their official website.
References in their music
Some of their songs are about or allude to famous people or events.
- Travis Bickle - Robert De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, from the 1976 Scorsese film Taxi Driver. This has substantial relevance to punk rock, as the famous mohawk hairstyle worn in the punk rock subculture was inspired by Travis Bickle's mohawk in Taxi Driver.
- David Courtney - Dave Courtney is a famous ex-mobster from London who is now crime-free and an author.
- Harry Bridges - Harry was an American labor leader along the westcoast.
- Don Giovanni - Don Giovanni is the title and lead character of an opera composed by Mozart in 1787, based on the legend of Don Juan.
- Rwanda - The song Rwanda is about the (Rwandan) genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994.
- "I always end up back on the hill, looking down at the landfill" from the song "As Wicked"-refers to Albany Hill, in Albany, CA where Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman grew up.
- "Journey to the End of East Bay" is a reflective song about Operation Ivy, one of the bands before Rancid that Tim and Matt played in, and includes a line proclaiming that "too much attention unavoidably destroyed us."
- Loki - According to Lars in the liner notes for Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards' first album, Loki is a god in Norse mythology who he compares to his old friend Ben Zenatto who was referenced in the song Roots Radicals.
- Django - Django is a film series starring Franco Nero in the title role. The character is famous for dragging around a coffin, which holds a belt of ammunition, behind him. The Django series is considered a Spaghetti Western
Related projects
- Tim Armstrong played with Travis Barker (drummer of blink-182) and Rob Aston (a.k.a. Skinhead Rob) in the Transplants until they announced their split in January 2006. In late 2005, rumours abounded that Tim Armstrong would replace the late Joe Strummer in a reunion of the British Punk band The Clash. These, however, have since been dismissed as untrue. Mick Jones, lead guitarist of The Clash, has said that he has always been opposed to a reunion and these claims are simply wrong. The rumors stemmed from a news site that posted an April Fool's joke that was then perpetuated by people unaware of the posting date.
- Lars Frederiksen has a side band named Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards.
- Matt Freeman joined Social Distortion in 2004, replacing previous bassist John Maurer. Brent Harding replaced Freeman as bassist for Social Distortion in early 2005, after Freeman was wrongly diagnosed with lung cancer and had a child. Freeman is also bassist and lead vocalist in the psychobilly band, Devil's Brigade, in which Tim Armstrong and Brett Reed also play.
- Rancid also recorded a song on the Chef Aid South Park Album, the song is entitled Brad Logan (commonly mistitled "California Sun" due to the lyrics).
Discography
Studio albums
 Rancid, 1993 (Gun Cover) |
 Let's Go, 1994 |
 Life Won't Wait, 1998 |
|
 Rancid, 2000 (Skull Cover) |
 BYO Split Series, Vol. 3, 2002 (split with NOFX) |
 Indestructible, 2003 |
 (title TBA), 2007 |
EPs
- Rancid (I'm Not The Only One) 1992
- Radio Radio Radio, 1994
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | |||
| 1992 | "I'm Not the Only One" | - | - | - | - | Rancid (1992) |
| 1994 | "Hyena" | - | - | - | - | Rancid (1993) |
| 1994 | "Nihilism" | - | - | - | - | Let's Go |
| 1994 | "Salvation" | - | #21 | - | - | Let's Go |
| 1995 | "Roots Radicals" | - | #27 | - | - | ...And Out Come the Wolves |
| 1995 | "Time Bomb" | - | #8 | - | - | ...And Out Come the Wolves |
| 1996 | "Ruby Soho" | - | #13 | - | - | ...And Out Come the Wolves |
| 1998 | "Bloodclot" | - | - | - | - | Life Won't Wait |
| 1998 | "Hooligans" | - | - | - | - | Life Won't Wait |
| 2000 | "Let Me Go" | - | - | - | - | Rancid (2000) |
| 2003 | "Fall Back Down" | - | #13 | - | - | Indestructible |
| 2004 | "Red Hot Moon" | - | - | - | - | Indestructible |
| 2004 | "Tropical London" | - | - | - | - | Indestructible |
Collaborations
- Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day joined the band for a brief period of time prior to Fredriksen's joining the band, doing a live show with them in 1993 and co-writing "Radio" on Let's Go.
Originally Tim Armstrong had asked Lars Frederiksen to join, but he turned it down due to being a member of the UK Subs at the time. So Armstrong enlisted Green Day's frontman temporarily and eventually asked Billie Joe to become a full-fledged member of the band. Billie Joe turned Tim down, his former idol from the Operation Ivy days, wanting to stick with Green Day. Frederiksen later changed his mind upon leaving the UK Subs.
See also
- 1990s music groups
- List of alternative music artists
- List of bands from California
- List of musicians in the second wave of punk music
- List of popular music performers
References
- Huey, Steve. "Rancid". All Music Guide. Retrieved June 13, 2005.
External links
- The Official Rancid Website
- Hellcat Records
- Rancid Lyrics
- The Polish Rancid Website
- {{{2|{{{name|Rancid}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Databasede:Rancid
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