Rancid (band)

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Background information
Origin	Berkeley, California, USA
Genre(s)	Punk rock Ska punk
Years active	1991-present
Label(s)	Epitaph Records Hellcat Records
Associated acts	Operation Ivy Transplants Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards Devil's Brigade
Website	Official website
Members
Tim Armstrong Lars Frederiksen Matt Freeman Branden Steineckert
Former members
Brett Reed

Rancid is a punk band formed in 1991 in Berkeley, California, by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong.

Rancid includes Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals and Branden Steineckert on drums. Former drummer Brett Reed left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Branden Steineckert, former drummer of The Used. As of 2007, Armstrong and Freeman are the only two remaining original members of the band as Frederiksen did not join Rancid until 1993 after the band was searching for a second guitar player.

They are credited, along with fellow California punk bands The Offspring and Green Day, with reviving mainstream popular interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid 1990s.^[1]^[2]

Rancid's style often draws comparison with The Clash in their albums ...And Out Come the Wolves and Life Won't Wait, the latter of which is sometimes referred to as "Rancid's Sandinista!". This influence is further emphasized by direct homages to the seminal punk rock group in the lyrics to several of Rancid's songs, such as the title track to Indestructible.

Among mainstream audiences, Rancid is best-known for the songs "Ruby Soho" and "Time Bomb" from the 1995 album ...And Out Come the Wolves, as well as "Fall Back Down" from their 2003 album Indestructible. As of 2007, Rancid was working on a studio album, due to be released in spring on Hellcat Records.^[3]

[edit] History

[edit] Origin and mainstream success (1991-2003)

After Operation Ivy broke up in 1989, Tim Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Matt Freeman (bassist) formed Rancid in Albany, California in 1991.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day joined the band for a brief period before Frederiksen joined. Armstrong performed at a 1993 concert and co-wrote "Radio" on Let's Go. Originally Frederiksen turned down a request to join because he was a member of the UK Subs at the time. Tim Armstrong eventually asked Billie Joe Armstrong to become a full-fledged member of the band, but Billie Joe opted to stick with Green Day. Frederiksen later changed his mind and left the UK Subs.

Rancid in all actuality was a group of secretly gay punks who listened to the Dead and never told anyone. They enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the 1990s, with the band touring constantly from 1993 through 1998. They have released 6 full-length albums, along with numerous 7" vinyls and singles. Following the commercial and critical success of Let's Go, which garnered gold status in the U.S. with 500,000 copies sold, the band was pursued by several major labels, including Madonna's Maverick Records. Despite these offers, Rancid chose to stick with independent label Epitaph Records for their first four studio albums.

Rancid's second self-titled album was released on the Hellcat Records imprint in 2000. Rancid's 2003 album Indestructible was released by Hellcat Records, but distributed by Warner Bros. records. The band continues to be signed worldwide to Hellcat Records.

[edit] Hiatus (2004-2005)

In 2004, after the release of Indestructible, Rancid went on hiatus. All members continued work with side projects, although the group had not officially disbanded in any way.

Armstrong continued to play in the Transplants, and their second album, Haunted Cities, was released in 2005. He contributed guitar and backup vocals on Cypress Hill's hit single "What's Your Number?", from their tenth album Till Death Do Us Part. Frederiksen has a side band Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and their second album, Viking, was released in 2004. Freeman joined Social Distortion in 2004 and left in 2005. Also during 2005, Freeman was incorrectly diagnosed with lung cancer.[1]

Freeman, Reed, and Armstrong released three songs under the name Devil's Brigade: Vampire Girl, on the Give 'Em the Boot III Hellcat Records Compilation, and a 12" [vinyl] record that included the songs "Stalingrad" and "Psychos All Around Me". Reed, aside from playing with Devil's Brigade, made a guest appearance on the Transplants' Haunted Cities.

[edit] Recent events and the future of Rancid (2006-present)

Beginning March 7, 2006, Rancid played several acoustic sets as part of Hellcat Records' Hellcat Nights concert series at The Echo. This was their first time playing together since the hiatus of Armstrong's side project The Transplants. On April 13, 2006, Rancid announced plans for a worldwide tour beginning in July 2006, and the release of a DVD compiling 31 of their music videos (Now scheduled for a spring 2007 release), as well as a tentative release date of Spring 2007 for a new as-of-yet-unamed studio album.

On August 31, 2006, Frederiksen collapsed on stage on their third Montreal date. He was reportedly taking antibiotics at the time for an upper respiratory infection.^{[citation needed]} The collapse and seizure resulted from a combination of fatigue and the methamphetamine drug reaction.^{[citation needed]} The band had to cancel four shows, but continued the rest of their tour as planned.

Like many other bands once on the Lookout! Records roster, in September, 2006 Rancid pulled their self-titled EP from the Lookout! catalog.^[4]

Armstrong has announced plans for a debut solo album to be released on Hellcat records called, A Poet's Life. He released tracks for free on the Internet starting on August 29, 2006^[5]. Though originally promised as a freely downloadable album, Punknews.org reports that it looks like Armstrong's solo album will be getting a proper release after all. The record is titled A Poet's Life and is now due out May 22, 2007 on his own Epitaph imprint, Hellcat Records.

The disc will feature 11 songs, and the album itself will be packaged with a bonus DVD featuring a video for each song on the album, as well as a featurette on the making of the album. Earlier this week, Tim released the latest video from the album, for "Into Action" featuring Skye Sweetnam and The Aggrolites.

On November 3, 2006, Reed left Rancid and was replaced by former Used drummer Branden Steineckert. Branden was let go from the band for unknown reasons but announced he doesn't feel bitter about it and his new home is with Rancid, joining the band permanently. A full blog of this can be found at Branden's myspace.

[edit] The "New" Rancid Project

On January 19th, 2007, Tim Armstrong announced that he and some of his good friends will be working on a small recording project and tour, made to benefit many of the poor sections of Indonesia. No songs or tour dates have been announced as of yet.^{[citation needed]}

He decided to begin working on benefit recordings and concerts due to his recent travels to Jakarta and other sects in the country. After discovering that Indonesia is the fourth largest country in population, and that half of the country's citizens live on less than $2 a day. He states that he was captivated by the people and the culture of the country, and that he is attempting to do whatever he can to help raise awareness and help benefit the country's economic resources and funds.

So far, Tim Armstrong has recruited all current Rancid members (Lars Frederiksen, Matt Freeman, Brandon Steineckert,) as well as Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day, Pinhead Gunpowder,) Travis Barker (blink-182, +44,) and Vic Ruggiero (The Slackers.) Rumour speculates that other artists such as Rob Aston (Transplants,) Tre Cool (Green Day,) Craig Fairbaugh (+44,) and Davey Havok (AFI) will also contribute.^{[citation needed]}

Tim Armstrong - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Billie Joe Armstrong - Guitar, Vocals
Lars Frederiksen - Guitar, Vocals
Matt Freeman - Bass, Backing Vocals
Vic Ruggiero - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Travis Barker - Drums
Brandon Steineckert - Percussion

[edit] Conflicts

Rancid have had quite a few conflicts with other bands over the recent years, most for unknown reasons.

The Queers mentioned Tim Armstrong in their song Rancid Motherfucker.
Leftover Crack have had disputes with Tim Armstrong & many other artists on his label Hellcat Records over censorship issues and accusing them of being homophobic.

[edit] Members

**Rancid line-ups**
Dates & releases	Members & prominent instruments	Notes
1991-1993 Rancid ('93)	Tim Armstrong - vocals, guitar Matt Freeman - bass Brett Reed - drums	First line-up. Although Lars Frederiksen had joined the band prior to release, he did not actually perform on the album. As such, he does not appear in the liner notes for this album.
1993-2006 Let's Go, ...And Out Come the Wolves, Life Won't Wait, Rancid (2000) and Indestructible	Tim Armstrong - vocals, guitar Lars Frederiksen - guitar, vocals Matt Freeman - bass/vocals Brett Reed - drums	First line-up featuring second guitarist Lars Frederiksen. This is the "classic" Rancid line-up.
2006-present Untitled new studio album	Tim Armstrong - vocals, guitar Lars Frederiksen - guitar, vocals Matt Freeman - bass Branden Steineckert - drums

[edit] Collaborations

Rancid collaborated with reggae artist Buju Banton on the song "No More Misty Days," which appeared on his album Unchained Spirit. This was considered a controversial move by some, due to Banton's history of extreme homophobia. The song also appeared on Give 'em the Boot II without the reggae lines that Banton delivers in the Unchained Spirit version.

Rancid collaborated with Stubborn All-Stars on the song "I Wanna Riot" for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack.

Rancid collaborated on Bucaneer's "Bruk Out" on the Give 'Em The Boot II compilation.

Rancid collaborated with Iggy Pop on the song "No Fun" on the Give 'Em The Boot DVD.

[edit] Related projects

In Late 2006 Tim Armstrong recorded a solo album entitled 'A poet's life' with Hellcat Records reggae band The Aggrolites. 2 of the tracks, 'Hold On' & 'Wake Up' were available for download for free on the internet with the rest due for release in 2007.
Both Tim Armstrong & Lars Frederiksen have appeared on a number of albums in the past few years. With Tim Armstrong doing guest vocals on 'City to City', a track off Left Alone's 3rd Album Dead American Radio, appearing on the title track of Time Again's Debut Album The Stories Are True. Tim also recorded tracks with Hiphop group The Lordz 'Outlaw' and Head Automatica's 'Dance Party Plus'. Lars Frederiksen recently appeared on 'We are all that we have' taken from The Unseen's State of Discontent record.
Tim Armstrong had a side project named Transplants, which formed in 1999. Recently, there has been some confusion whether the band had broken up or not. However, Armstrong recently said that he wanted to make another album with the band "in the upcoming years".
Lars Frederiksen has a side project named Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards.
Matt Freeman was a touring bassist for Social Distortion in 2004 and 2005, but did not appear on any albums by the band. He is the bassist and lead vocalist in the psychobilly band, Devil's Brigade, in which Tim Armstrong and Brett Reed also play.
The Rancid song Brad Logan appears on the Chef Aid South Park album.
Rancid did a split CD with NOFX, in which Rancid did covers of six NOFX songs and NOFX did covers of six Rancid songs.
Freeman and Armstrong both played together in the late 1980s in Operation Ivy. After playing together in Operation Ivy, they played in other bands, such as Downfall, Shaken 69, Generator and Dance Hall Crashers.
Between 1988 and 1990, Armstrong and Joey Schaaf recorded songs on a four-track recorder under the name the LJs.

[edit] References in their lyrics

Desmond Dekker, Reggae musician.
Joe Strummer, frontman of legendary punk band The Clash.
Dave Courtney, a famous ex-mobster from London who is now crime-free and an author.
Harry Bridges, an American labor leader along the westcoast.
Don Giovanni, the title and lead character of an opera composed by Mozart
Travis Bickle, a fictional character in the film Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorcese.
The song Rwanda is about the 1994 genocide.
The song "As Wicked" mentions Albany Hill, in Albany, California, where Armstrong and Freeman grew up.
"Journey to the End of East Bay" is a reflective song about Operation Ivy, one of the bands Armstrong and Freeman were in before Rancid. The song also has a reference of how long Operation Ivy was active, "started in '87, ended in '89".
Django, a film series starring Franco Nero in the title role. The character is famous for dragging around a coffin, which holds a machine gun.
Al Capone, a famous Italian-American Mobster, known to most as "Scarface"
Spirit of '87 was originally titled "924 Gilman Street.", a Tribute to the now Legendary punk club where many bay area punk bands got their start, and where Tim and Matt used to volunteer.
Billy Bragg is mentioned in The Wars End.
The song Roots Radicals the lyrics "on the 43 bus as we climb up the hill" are reference to the local bus line that travels up Solano Avenue, out of Albany into Berkeley.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Year	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak^[6]	Format	Other information
1993	Rancid ('93)	Epitaph	Uncharted	CD	Debut album. To date, this is the only Rancid album not charted on Billboard.
1994	Let's Go	Epitaph	#97	CD	First album recorded with second guitarist Lars Frederiksen. Gold Certified by RIAA. Despite the album containing 23 tracks, Let's Go was originally intended to be a double release, but then Rancid decided use all the tracks on one CD. On the vinyl version of the album, it is a 2 record set.^[7]
1995	...And Out Come the Wolves	Epitaph	#45	CD	The most successful Rancid album to date. Platinum Certified by RIAA.
1998	Life Won't Wait	Epitaph	#35	CD
2000	Rancid (Skull Cover)	Hellcat	#68	CD
2003	Indestructible	Hellcat	#15	CD	.
2007	Untitled 7th Album	Hellcat	Not yet released	CD	The band has recently been working on a new album and hopes that it will be out in spring 2007.^[3] As of now, there is no official title for the new album.

[edit] EPs

Rancid (1992) - UK
Radio Radio Radio (1993)
Let Me Go (2000) - Japan

[edit] Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions			Album
Year	Title	US Modern Rock	US Mainstream Rock	UK Singles Chart	Album
1992	"I'm Not the Only One"	-	-	-	Rancid EP
1993	"Hyena"	-	-	-	Rancid (1993)
1994	"Nihilism"	-	-	-	Let's Go
1995	"Salvation"	21	-	-	Let's Go
1995	"Roots Radicals"	27	-	-	...And Out Come the Wolves
1995	"Time Bomb"	8	-	-	...And Out Come the Wolves
1996	"Ruby Soho"	13	-	-	...And Out Come the Wolves
1998	"Bloodclot"	-	-	-	Life Won't Wait
1998	"Hooligans"	-	-	-	Life Won't Wait
1998	"Brad Logan"	-	-	-	Chef Aid
2000	"Let Me Go"	-	-	-	Rancid (2000)
2000	"GGF"	-	-	-	Rancid (2000)
2003	"Fall Back Down"	13	-	-	Indestructible
2004	"Red Hot Moon"	-	-	-	Indestructible
2004	"Tropical London"	-	-	-	Indestructible

[edit] Other releases

BYO Split Series, Vol. 3 (2002) - split with NOFX

[edit] Official Live Recordings

At the end of 2006, Rancid started selling official live recordings on their official website. The following shows from the Summer Tour of 2006 were professionally recorded and sold in mp3 and FLAC format.

Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Oct 16, 2006 Venue: Live from San Diego
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Oct 11, 2006 Venue: Live from Anaheim
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Oct 6, 2006 Venue: Live from Salt Lake City
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Oct 5, 2006 Venue: Live from Salt Lake City
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Oct 1, 2006 Venue: Live from Calgary
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 13, 2006 Venue: Live from Minneapolis
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 12, 2006 Venue: Live from Chicago
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 11, 2006 Venue: Live from Chicago
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 9, 2006 Venue: Live from Detroit
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 8, 2006 Venue: Live from Detroit
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 7, 2006 Venue: Live from Columbus
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Sep 6, 2006 Venue: Live from Cleveland
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 27, 2006 Venue: Live from New York City
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 26, 2006 Venue: Live from New York City
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 25, 2006 Venue: Live from New York City
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 24, 2006 Venue: Live from New York City
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 23, 2006 Venue: Live from Boston
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 20, 2006 Venue: Live from Philadelphia
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 19, 2006 Venue: Live from Philadelphia
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 18, 2006 Venue: Live from Washington DC
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 17, 2006 Venue: Live from Washington DC
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 16, 2006 Venue: Live from Washington DC
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Aug 1, 2006 Venue: Live from Albuquerue
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Jul 21, 2006 Venue: Live from Miami
Summer Tour 2006 Recorded: Jul 19, 2006 Venue: Live from Orlando

[edit] See also

[edit] Reviews

Live Review of October 1, 2006 Concert in Calgary, AB, Canada by Chris Andrade on October 4, 2006 at kMNR...Music News Weekly

[edit] Footnotes

^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. Pg. 357, ISBN 0-306-81271-1
^ D'Angelo, Joe (2004). How Green Day's Dookie Fertilized A Punk-Rock Revival. MTV.com. Retrieved on July 26, 2006.
^ ^a ^b The Official Rancid Website
^ http://www.lookoutrecords.com/bands/band.php3?sd=647996426&bnd_id=51
^ http://www.punknews.org/article/19457
^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=33491&model.vnuAlbumId=589243
^ Rancid - Let's Go (HTML). Discogs.com. Retrieved on March 25, 2007.

[edit] External links

Discography
Rancid
Tim Armstrong \| Lars Frederiksen \| Matt Freeman \| Branden Steineckert
Former members: Brett Reed
Studio albums: Rancid (Gun Cover) (1993) \| Let's Go (1994) \| ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995) \| Life Won't Wait (1998) \| Rancid (Skull Cover) (2000) \| Indestructible (2003) \| (Seventh Studio Album) (2007) EPs and compilation albums: Rancid (EP) (1992) \| Radio Radio Radio (1993) \| Let Me Go (2000) \| BYO Split Series, Vol. 3 (2002) Singles: "Time Bomb" \| "Ruby Soho" \| "Fall Back Down"
Related articles
The Epitaph Records Portal Lookout! Records \| Epitaph Records \| Hellcat Records \| California punk scene \| Operation Ivy \| Social Distortion \| Transplants \| Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards \| The Used
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