Rancid

From Punkopedia - The Punk, Hardcore, and Indie Encyclopedia

Rancid

Music genre(s)	Punk
Homebase	Berkeley, CA
Years active	1991-Present
Current Status	Recording
Notable Records	Lets Go!, Rancid
Label(s)	Epitaph
Website

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.

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.The Official Rancid Website

1 History
2 Discography
3 Members
4 Other Projects
5 Links

[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 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.Template:Fact The collapse and seizure resulted from a combination of fatigue and the methamphetamine drug reaction.Template:Fact 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.

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. 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 the country of Indonesia, particularily, the island of Sumatra. No songs or tour dates have been announced as of yet.

So far, 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.