The Offspring: Ixnay On The Hombre

The members of The Offspring are each something like 30 years old. Singer Dexter Holland is wrapping up his postgraduate studies. But that doesn't stop the group from writing songs like "Cool To Hate," which include such staggeringly calculated lyrics as "I hate teachers / I hate school / I hate the cheerleaders / and anyone who's cool." But if you put aside the canned rebellion and the this-is-a-subversive-record disclaimer provided by Jello Biafra at the album's onset, much of Ixnay On The Hombre is pretty solid rock music—that's rock, not punk—with a briskly enjoyable single ("All I Want") and some pumped-up anthems for the disaffected. A few too many songs sound like tired, riff-intensive '80s metal ("Amazed," the inexplicable "Gone Away"), but Ixnay is pretty good for what it is: an album of disingenuous but adrenaline-enhanced teen anthems. And if you don't think too much about it while it's on, it can even be fun to listen to.