Rancid (band)

Rancid

Rancid is an American punk rock band from Albany, California, formed in 1991. Founded by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong, both of whom previously played in ska punk group Operation Ivy, the band is credited along with The Offspring and Green Day with helping to revive mainstream popular interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s.

Rancid includes Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals, and Branden Steineckert on drums. The band was formed by Armstrong, Freeman, and former drummer Brett Reed, who left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Steineckert. Frederiksen joined Rancid in 1993 when the band was searching for a second guitar player.

To date, Rancid has released seven studio albums, one split, one compilation, two EPs, a series of live online-only albums, and has been featured on countless compilations. The band rose to fame in 1994 with their second album, Let's Go, featuring the single "Salvation". In the following year, Rancid released their highly successful album ...And Out Come the Wolves, which produced their best-known hits "Roots Radicals", "Ruby Soho" and "Time Bomb", and was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA. Their next three albums, Life Won't Wait, Rancid and Indestructible were also critically acclaimed, but not as successful as ...And Out Come the Wolves. Rancid's latest studio album, Let the Dominoes Fall was released in June 2009.

History

Early history (pre-1993)

Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman had been playing together in the influential ska punk band Operation Ivy from 1987–1989. When Operation Ivy broke up they decided to form a new band, and started another ska punk band called Downfall, which only lasted a few months. They then started a hardcore punk group called Generator, which also quickly broke up. They also started the ska influenced Dance Hall Crashers but moved on quickly. In 1991 Tim and Matt decided to try starting yet another band. They recruited drummer Brett Reed and formed Rancid.

Rancid's first recorded release was a 1992 EP for Operation Ivy's old label Lookout! Records. Shortly after releasing this, the band was signed to Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz's label, Epitaph Records. Rancid would release their self titled debut album for Epitaph in 1993.

Breakthrough success (1994–1996)

While Rancid was writing for a follow-up album, Billie Joe Armstrong joined them to co-write the song "Radio", which resulted in Billie Joe playing a live show with Rancid, Tim had previously asked Lars Frederiksen to be Rancid's second guitarist, but he turned down the request initially as he was playing with Charlie Harper's UK Subs at the time. After Billie Joe turned down the request, Frederiksen changed his mind and decided to join Rancid.

Frederiksen played with the band on 1994's Let's Go. That year their then-label-mates, The Offspring, experienced a huge success with their album Smash. The Offspring took Rancid on tour with them, and helped Let's Go make it to #97 on Billboard's Heatseekers and Billboard 200 charts, respectively. With the success of the album the band was pursued by several major labels, including Madonna's Maverick Records. Many rumors circulated during this time period. Some of the rumors were Epitaph employees were not allowed to discuss matters with the press, Rancid convinced an A&R man from Epic to shave a blue mohawk, and Madonna sent the band nude pictures of herself.

The band eventually decided to stay on Epitaph, and the next year released their third album ...And Out Come the Wolves. The album quickly surpassed Let's Go in terms of success. Three of the album's singles, "Roots Radicals", "Time Bomb", and "Ruby Soho" all charted on the North American Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, and the band performed two of these songs on Saturday Night Live.

Middle years (1997–2003)

After two years of touring for ...And Out Come the Wolves, Rancid returned to the studio in 1997 to begin recording their fourth album, Life Won't Wait, which was released on June 30, 1998. The album branched out from Rancid's previous musical styles, and combined punk rock with elements of roots reggae, rockabilly, dub, hip-hop, and funk. Due to this it was often compared to The Clash's Sandinista!. Unfortunately, the album was not as successful as ...And Out Come the Wolves, but has since garnered a strong cult following in recent times. In 1999, Rancid decided to end their seven year relationship with Epitaph and signed with Tim Armstrong's founded Hellcat Records (which was a division of Epitaph).

A second self-titled album was released in 2000 and would be their first release on Hellcat. The album failed to meet the success of Rancid's previous three albums and peaked at number 68 on the billboard charts.

2002 saw Rancid's three original members release three songs under the name Devil's Brigade, one on the Give 'Em the Boot III compilation, and two on a 12" vinyl record. Also that year, all four members of the band played on BYO Split Series, Vol. 3, a split album with NOFX in which Rancid covered NOFX songs and NOFX covered Rancid songs.

After a break from touring in 2001, Rancid returned to the studio with Gurewitz in 2002 to record their sixth album, Indestructible, which was released on August 19, 2003. It featured the hit song "Fall Back Down", and was Rancid's highest charting album ever, peaking at number 15.

Unlike all their previous albums, Indestructible was distributed by a major record label, Warner Bros. Records..

Hiatus (2004–2005)

In 2004, after a tour for Indestructible, Rancid went on an extensive hiatus. The band members spent time working with side projects, although they had not officially disbanded.

Armstrong continued to play with his side project the Transplants, who released their second album, Haunted Cities, in 2005. He also contributed guitar and backup vocals on Cypress Hill's hit single "What's Your Number?" from their tenth album Till Death Do Us Part. He also released a solo album, A Poet's Life in May 2007.

Frederiksen continued working with his side band Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and released its second album, Viking, in 2004, Tim Armstrong helped produce and write it.

Freeman briefly toured with Social Distortion in 2004 as John Maurer's replacement until they found their current bassist Brent Harding.

Matt and Lars both had kids during this time as well: Matt has two, and Lars has one.

Reformation and Let the Dominoes Fall (2006–present)

In early 2006, Rancid reunited to embark on a successful tour and played several acoustic sets as part of Hellcat Records' Hellcat Nights concert series at The Echo. This was the first time the band had played together since their hiatus. On April 13, 2006, Rancid announced plans for a worldwide tour beginning in July 2006, and the release of a DVD compiling 31 of their music videos, as well as a tentative release date of Spring 2007 for a new as-of-yet-unnamed studio album.

Like many other bands once on the Lookout! Records roster, in September 2006, Rancid pulled their self-titled EP from the catalog.

On November 3, 2006, Reed left Rancid and was replaced by former Used drummer Branden Steineckert.

Rancid released a compilation album, B Sides and C Sides, on December 11, 2007. The album contains various B-sides, "C-sides", and songs from other compilations.

Rancid toured Japan in April 2008 for a handful of shows following their two days headlining the Punkspring 2008 festival. Following the Japanese tour, Rancid embarked on a full scale U.S. tour during the summer and a UK winter tour.

Rancid used to host a one hour once a week XM radio show. The show was called Rancid Radio and was on "Fungus" channel 53 Saturday at midnight. However, the show was cancelled due to Fungus 53 being pulled from XM's programming.

Rancid released their seventh LP, Let the Dominoes Fall on June 2, 2009. In late May, the full album was streamed from the band's MySpace page. This was their first album without the "classic" line-up, with Branden Steineckert replacing Brett Reed on drums in 2006. The record was written at Branden's Unknown Studios in Utah and was recorded at Skywalker Sound in Nicasio, California. Music legend Booker T. Jones performed organ on one song. A deluxe version of the album included the CD, some of the songs recorded acoustically on a separate CD, and a making of the album DVD. To support the album, Rancid toured North America in the summer of 2009 with Rise Against, Riverboat Gamblers, and Billy Talent. The tour began on June 4, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia and ended in Toronto, Ontario on July 31.

On June 10, 2009, the band appeared as the musical guest on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien playing "Last One to Die" off of their new album.

Members

Current

• Tim Armstrong – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar (1991–present)
• Matt Freeman – bass guitar, backing vocals (1991–present), lead vocals (1991–1993)
• Lars Frederiksen – lead vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar (1993–present)
• Branden Steineckert – drums, percussion (2006–present)

Former

• Brett Reed – drums, percussion (1991–2006)

Timeline

Collaborations

• Rancid collaborated with reggae artist Buju Banton on the song "Misty Days"; which appeared on his album Unchained Spirit,. This was considered a controversial move by some, due to Banton's history of extreme homophobia. The song also appeared on Give 'em the Boot II without the reggae lines that Banton delivers in the Unchained Spirit version. The two artists also collaborated on 2 of Rancid's own songs - Life Won't Wait and Hooligans.
• Rancid collaborated with Stubborn All-Stars on the song "I Wanna Riot" for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack. Both bands also collaborated for a live cover of "The Harder They Come" for the "Tibetan Freedom Concert". Rancid also collaborated with Stubborn All-Stars on their album Back With A New Batch, providing backing vocals for several songs.
• Rancid collaborated on Buccaneer's "Bruk Out" on the Give 'Em The Boot II compilation.
• Rancid collaborated with Dr Israel on the track 'Coppers', which appeared on Rancid's Life Won't Wait and also Israel's Inner City Pressure.
• Rancid collaborated with Iggy Pop on the song "No Fun" on the Give 'Em The Boot DVD.

Discography

For all releases see Rancid discography.

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak	Format	Other information
1993	Rancid (1993)	Epitaph	Uncharted	CD/LP/CS	Debut album. To date, this is the only Rancid album not charted on Billboard.
1994	Let's Go	Epitaph	97	CD/LP/CS	First album recorded with second guitarist Lars Frederiksen. Gold Certified by RIAA. On vinyl, this is a double album on two 10" mini-LPs. Its U.S. release date, June 14, 1994, was Matt Freeman's 28th birthday.
1995	...And Out Come the Wolves	Epitaph	45	CD/LP/CS	The most successful Rancid album to date. Platinum Certified by RIAA.
1998	Life Won't Wait	Epitaph	35	CD/LP/CS	Last album released on Epitaph Records.
2000	Rancid (2000)	Hellcat	68	CD/LP/CS	First album released on Hellcat Records.
2003	Indestructible	Warner Bros. Records/Hellcat	15	CD/LP	Last album recorded with the "classic" line-up. Warner Bros. Records acted as a distributing label and copies distributed by Warner Bros. have a parental advisory sticker.
2009	Let The Dominoes Fall	Hellcat	11	CD/LP	The band began recording the album in January 2008 with Brett Gurewitz, who produced Let's Go and the previous two albums. First album recorded with new drummer Branden Steineckert.

See also

• List of Rancid concert tours
• List of alternative music artists
• List of musicians in the second wave of punk music

External links

• The Official Rancid Website
• Rancid on Shockhound.com