This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
You can take the punk out of Campbell, Calif., but you can’t take Campbell, Calif., out of the punk.
That’s the message on Lars Frederiksen’s new album, which finds the veteran punk waxing nostalgic about his misspent youth and paying tribute to the friends he left behind — especially an old pal named Ben who died of a drug overdose last year. But if you think for one second Lars has gone soft and is gonna get all weepy, give your head a shake, jocko. These songs may be about “the days of wine and roses,” but only Lars would rhyme that with “riot squads and fire hoses.” Hey, whaddaya expect? This 13-song affair was put together by a member of Rancid, after all (actually, two members: Tim Armstrong produced all these tracks and co-wrote most). And it could very well be the sequel to the last Rancid album — it has the same blistering guitar lines, the same Clash-inspired melodies, the same throat-shredding vocals, the same passion and idealism. Once a punk, always a punk. What a magnificent bastard.
