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The Offspring

Want You Bad

Label: Columbia Records Release Date: 14/03/2001

-gen- by Gen Williams March 12th, 2001

Let's think back to The Offspring's last single, "Original Prankster". It was appalling. Truly hideous. It seemed to indicate a downward spiral for the quality of Offspring singles, floundering in the mire of novelty-single-quicksand - in short, they had done a Terrorvision.

It was so bad that on hearing "Want You Bad" on the radio, I didn't have a clue that it was The Offspring - it crossed my mind that it could be, but I quickly dismissed that silly thought. I thought it might be Green Day on a return to glory, or some other fantastic punk-metal-pop-crossover band that I really should have heard of by this point. Not The Offspring. Where were the hideous faux-rapped vocal outpourings, the clumsy cartoon chords, the overriding IRRITANT factor???

I can't stress how happy I am that The Offspring have released this - especially considering the quality deterioration in their recent singles. It's fast. It's fun. It's catchy. It has lyrics like "I want you, all tattooed". And there's not a novelty moment in sight - it is, essentially, a romp-along pop punk tune with an excellent melody. There's no silliness or cringe-inducing "comedy moments", just ace speed-punk chewnery. It's the sort of song that leaves you grinning for the next ten minutes after it finishes. You'll hear it and find yourself singing along before the first chorus is up. It'll be a hit, because The Offspring are now a mainstream commodity, and it'll be all over the radio. And you won't be one little bit sick of it.

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