The best punk band ever, according to the Offspring
Engaged in the promotion of the new Offspring album, “Supercharged” (here is our review), released last October 11th, Dexter Holland and Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman were guests of the Lip Service podcast. During the chat the two musicians were asked to name what they think it is the best punk band of all timeand the answer given by the frontman is not what everyone would expect.
In answering the question, in fact, Dexter Holland decided to name a historic classic rock band: i Creedence Clearwater Revival. Motivating his answer, providing a rather convincing explanation for the choice, the singer stated: “They were against the authorities, the government and the war.”
For his part, Noodles chose a historic group, among the hardcore punk heroes of California: TSOL. The guitarist then stated: “I hate when I’m asked to choose a name. I could choose at least 10 or 20 bands that really mean a lot to me and that have inspired me. But TSOL is probably the only band that inspired both me and Dexterwhich made us want to be part of a group and make the kind of music we still make today.”
Holland then added: “As Noodles says, it’s impossible to choose just one. We also have to consider the Ramones. They started it all. I know it’s hard to pinpoint the starting point, but with the Ramones you can really place a moment where punk started to have an identity.”
Interviewed by Rockol for the release of “Supercharged”, Noodles reflected on the various transformations of punk rockso much so that recently we have also witnessed the revival of pop punk, with incursions by artists of various styles such as hip hop and rap. “Punk rock has now entered the mainstream“, said the guitarist, reflecting on the evolution of the genre: “We recently invited Youngblud on stage to play ‘Self esteem’ with us. He definitely has a punk rock attitude to what he does. There are many metal bands that incorporate punk rock into their style, e.g I think Lady Gaga also has something punk in what she does. But real punk rock still exists, if I think about clubs. When I go to see bands play, I see people my age still playing, and people my son’s age still playing. There’s still a lot of punk rock out there, for sure.” After all these years, what drives an artist or band like the Offspring to still make punk rock music, Noodles pointed out, is the fact that “It keeps us young“.
