"A Poet's Life"

A colleague alerts me to the fact that Tim Armstrong of Rancid has a solo album, "A Poet's Life." MP3s of three tracks "Wake Up", "Hold On", and "Oh No" are available for free on the Epitaph website. It's all sounding disappointingly ska-ish. Spencer Ackerman, who I guess isn't allowed to write about this stuff on TPM Muckraker, remarks "look dude you're not prince buster, write me some fucking punk songs" which reminds me that I don't quite recall what the upshot was of the conversation Andrew, Ross, and I had with James Bennett about the appropriate use of the word "fuck" on an Atlantic-branded blog.

Spencer also offers the view that Rancid's Indestructible is "way underrated" but I think Life Won't Wait is the underrated Rancid album.

Comments

I completely agree about Life Won't Wait, although it is worth noting that it is also by far the most ska-ish of the albums as well. Indestructible is only underrated in the sense that a lot people just didn't listen to it after the mostly awful Rancid 2000 (and yes, "Antennas" blah blah blah heard it before).

Posted by Drew Miller | June 15, 2007 5:15 PM

Whenever the underrated one was, it was a long time ago. Despite the decade spent aping The Clash musically, I say there's no Strummer there.

Posted by Underlying Patterns | June 15, 2007 5:17 PM

Life Won't Wait is relatively ska-ish, but these solo tracks go way further down that road. They're also bad, which is a problem.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | June 15, 2007 5:18 PM

Whoa geez, you are totally right, these suck. "Oh No" has some of the interesting minor chord stuff that was used really well on Life Won't Wait - kind of reminds me of "Crane Fist".

How can Spencer like Indestructible and hate this though? That was the album where they really started putting out sissy-type songs like this.

My theory is that Armstrong has multiple personality disorder, and when they are working together they make great music. When one is making stuff for The Transplants and one is doing Rancid though, they both end up on opposite ends of the shitty-shitty spectrum.

Posted by Drew Miller | June 15, 2007 5:23 PM

[...] the appropriate use of the word "fuck" on an Atlantic-branded blog.

I like how you've skirted the issue by exploiting the use/mention distinction.

Posted by live | June 15, 2007 5:29 PM

I think this record sounds pretty fucking good. I'd like to see ska/reggae get a little revival. The "country" thing has been delivering diminished returns for a couple of years now. Witness- the new Bright Eyes.

Posted by chad | June 15, 2007 5:29 PM

I'd worry less about the bad word and more about spelling your boss's name right.

Posted by Ezra 1 | June 15, 2007 5:33 PM

Witness- the new Bright Eyes.

Or, you know, don't. :-)

Posted by Drew Miller | June 15, 2007 5:34 PM

I don't get how you can complain about ska on a Rancid record. They've been ska-ish (more so back then) since they were Operation Ivy.

Posted by Ed Marshall | June 15, 2007 5:44 PM

No matter what Spencer and Matt think, there's nothing wrong with ska, and I'm certainly more interested in hearing ska that leans more toward the traditional roots sound than ska-punk. However, to pull off the roots sound, you need to be able to carry a tune, which Armstrong (as much as I love his music) can't. He should stick with the ska-punk and leave the roots stuff to guys like The Slackers (who, I'm guessing, probably make up most of Armstrong's backing band on this album).

Posted by Cain | June 15, 2007 5:47 PM

I never really got in to the 90's punk/punk-pop bands (Rancid, Green Day, NOFX, Offspring, etc.) I'd rather just listen to the real thing (Clash, Stooges, Buzzcocks, etc.)

I feel the same way about many of the faux New Wave bands coming out during that last five years or so.

Posted by Whit Stevens | June 15, 2007 5:48 PM

The Aggrolites are the backing band.

Posted by chad | June 15, 2007 5:51 PM

The Aggrolites are the backing band.

Fuck yes, even better.

I wonder if Armstrong took advantage of his backing band and put any skinhead reggae on there?

Posted by Cain | June 15, 2007 6:04 PM

Maximum Rock'N'Roll finally comes to The Atlantic.

Forget Rorty, Matt, when will you acknowledge that Ben Weasel's old 'zine rants were your primary inspiration for blogging?

this thread makes me want to put on the Screeching Weasel/Born Against 7" split.

Posted by David | June 15, 2007 6:25 PM

Might I add:

Operation Ivy, heavily ska-influenced, is FAR superior (lyrically and musically) to Rancid except for a handful of songs. And much more genuinely "punk."

Speaking of Ben Weasel.... Someone other than me should find some links to those old articles in MRR wherein Ben Weasel drops some tirade on the new and "extra-punk" version of Tim Armstrong.

Posted by alex | June 15, 2007 7:00 PM

Is this post some kind of DC hardcore haterism on East Bay punk?

Posted by UN Plaza | June 15, 2007 7:02 PM

Is this post some kind of DC hardcore haterism on East Bay punk?
Not really--a lot of DC music absolutely blows goats (pics and mp3's available as proof), but Rancid is particularly shitty by anyone's standards. I mean, the fact that not nearly this many people badmouthed the Canadian band that MY uncritically embraced says a lot about the pure suckage of ska in comparison to all other types of musical inspiration.

Posted by VasyaDC | June 16, 2007 2:42 AM

The Rancid fandom is really puzzling. Is Matt going to start touting his favorite Big Audio Dynamite albums? After all, B.A.D. bears pretty much the same relation to the Clash as Rancid does to Operation Ivy.

Armstrong needs to hang it up -- that guy's way more light than heat. Same with Lars Fredrickson and the rest of the Rancid crew. Except for the Dead Kennedys, SF punk sucked.

Posted by TonyDogs | June 17, 2007 1:35 PM