Happy 30th Anniversary to Rancid's ...And Out Come The Wolves

Happy 30th Anniversary to Rancid's career high point ...And Out Come The Wolves

The merging of punk, ska and rock on this album still holds up to this day...

For this 1995  dynamite offering (and pretty much every record since) Rancid mixed the ska of Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman's original band Operation Ivy and the more street grit of Lars Frederiksen as Brett Reed played some great drums as well. 

From top to bottom the longer than usual punk record (it runs 50 minutes) has no weak tracks of the 19 presented. ...And Out Come The Wolves is propelled along by the catchy as hell singles "Time Bomb", "Roots Radicals" and "Ruby Soho", but the deeper cuts are all on that same level. "She's Automatic", "Old Friend" and "As Wicked" are just as infectious and could have been hit singles as well.

On a personal note, I had been into Rancid since randomly purchasing Let's Go in 1994 and seeing the band open for Offspring at the now defunct Saratoga Winners. I got to meet Armstrong during the show and was really looking forward to their next album which came out just as I arrived to start life in NYC. The cover was plastered on billboards all around the Village and I picked it up at Tower Records on Broadway, instantly loving it. 

One of the tunes that quickly resonated with me was "Junkie Man" as the St Mark's poet in my brain was sprouting. I had just learned of Jim Carroll through The Basketball Diaries and had a chance to see Carroll present his poetry downtown. Both the heavy metal riffs of "Listed M.I.A." and the chant along/anthemic "Avenues and Alleyways" also struck deep chords. This record was an instant favorite from the first listen and remains so 30 years later. 

Overall, ...And Out Come The Wolves remains exciting, deep, dangerous, poppy yet still punk. One of RtBE's Personal Favorite albums, enjoy the record today by playing it loud: