Rancid
Let The Dominoes Fall
Release Date: Jun 2, 2009
Genre(s): Rock, Punk
Record label: Hellcat/Epitaph
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Album Review: Let The Dominoes Fall by Rancid
Great, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Perhaps the best indication of what constitutes a great punk band is its members’ abilities to think beyond the scope of their three-chord impetus. There is nothing sadder than seeing a bunch of middle-aged dudes still trying to relive the glory of their humble beginnings by playing the same exact type of aggressive style they did 20 years ago. And when it comes to the California-based third-wave punk movement of the early-to-mid 1990s, a lot of these bands quite arguably still seem to be desperately clinging onto this youthful lifestyle that has not only outgrown them, but has become utterly mainstreamed and corporately streamlined by their younger contemporaries such as Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, Simple Plan or any of these other seemingly Hot Topic-fabricated bands who got spat out by the major label machine over the course of the ‘00s.
Based on rating 7/10
Rancid's seventh album, 2009's Let the Dominos Fall, was released a full six years after Indestructible. In that time much changed in the world (and the band swapped drummers, with Branden Steineckert stepping in for Brent Reed) but not a whole lot changed with the band's sound. Sure, there were a few cosmetic differences here and there but the fire, spirit, and strength the band exhibited since their debut in the early '90s hasn't faded at all.
Opinion: Fairly Good
TAKING BACK SUNDAY“New Again”(Warner Brothers) Punkiness doesn’t last forever. Taking Back Sunday, a band from Long Island that formed in 1999, helped shape the self-doubting punk-pop that would soon be called emo. A decade later, after multiple changes of lineup — past members of the band formed Straylight Run — Taking Back Sunday has embraced the persuasiveness of a long-lined tune, a sustained vocal and a harmony chorus.