Rancid - Let the Dominoes Fall (2009) Review

Well what can i say? Rancid are back and with authority! this is the Punk rock album of the year! hands down! sorry Green Day. after a 6 year gap between their last studio album (2003's Indestructible) expectations were high and they were dually met with the band's strongest studio album since 1995's ...And Out Come the Wolves. first off, i will comment on the rhythm section. Branden Steineckert does a great job in filling in for the legendary departed Brett Reed who departed from the band in 2006. on this album we hear classic Rancid which i find funny for 2 reasons. the first reason is that any song Tim or Lars play on can be considered a Rancid song, what makes it truly a Rancid song, as they themselves have said, is Matt Freeman's bass (The best fuck'n bass player alive today!). he can hold the band together and along with Branden provide a solid foundation for both Lars and Tim to play on top of. while mentioning Tim and Lars, both men are in top form on this album vocally and guitar wise. how can anyone not love the sound of Lars' Epi or Tim's Gretch is beyond me. this is just a fun album that suits the summer weather perfectly. Highlights include "East Bay Night", "Last One to Die", "Up to No Good", "Lulu", "Disconnected", "New Orleans" and "Civilian Ways". Rancid is not afraid to pull no punches on their albums and the album itself is solid from beginning to end. if you like catchy tunes this is the album for you, Punk, Ska, Acoustic, there is no territory these guys will not tread. as for my ratting? i give this 10 dominoes out of 10, 'cause this is a soon to be classic Rancid album, no surprises, just a band doing what they do best, what ever they want to do in order to create the best music they can and for those of you who thought they would reinvent the wheel? they prefer the tweak it and have fun doing it