Released in 2024, “Supercharged” is The Offspring’s 11th studio outing with a title that could well describe the energy of this Southern California quintet. Concertgoers can expect this kind of unbridled musical vigor when The Offspring hits the Jones Beach stage on Aug. 3.
Founded by lead vocalist Dexter Holland as Manic Subsidal back in 1984, the band expanded the following year when guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman signed on.
It wouldn’t be until 1986 that the then-four-piece band transitioned into its current name. Following the release of its 1989 self-titled debut, The Offspring led a California ‘90s punk rock revival alongside Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid, Green Day, and Pennywise.
Fast forward to the present and when asked about the inspiration behind this current batch of songs, Wasserman admits the residual effects of recording 2021’s “Let the Bad Times Roll” during the Covid lockdown played a major part in where they landed with this most recent album.
“Each song has its impetus lyrically for sure,” he explained. “Musically, we just kind of kept working after the last record, ‘Let the Bad Times Roll,’ which we put out in the middle of the pandemic. The whole title, ‘Let the Bad Times Roll,’ kind of says where we were at that particular time. We had live music taken away from us for a year and a half and weren’t able to play any shows. We went into the studio and just started working on everything and revisiting every song we play and making sure what we’re doing works together—each one of us individually.”
He added, “We took all that [stuff] apart and had fun analyzing things because we wanted to play music so badly. We rehearsed like we never had before. We were also recording at that time and as we started to get back to playing and living the life, we were happy again. I honestly think with this record, we just felt there was a lot more positive energy driving us on this record, more than it was on the last one, even though the world is still going to hell in a handbasket. I still think we have a little bit more positivity about things.”
Despite being four decades in, The Offspring are full of the kind of piss and vinegar that makes jams like the anthemic “Truth in Fiction” and “Light It Up” with its triphammer cadences make you want to look for the nearest mosh pit. Elsewhere, fans are kept guessing via songs like “Come to Brazil,” a nod to the band’s South American fans, which starts with an ‘80s metal intro that occasionally revs up to thrash-flavored timekeeping.
Equally notable is “Get Some,” a banger that finds guitarists Wasserman and Jonah Nimoy having fun throwing in licks cribbed from Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” and Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son.”
Now that The Offspring is in its natural environment, prowling the stage as part of the “Supercharged Worldwide in ’25 Tour, it’ll be in the company of support acts Jimmy Eat World and New Found Glory. Wasserman admits the challenge his band has is in trying to straddle the bridge between the familiarity of club shows and playing arenas, all while keeping diehards and newbie fans happy.
“We’ve done a lot to up the production on this the past few years, so we’re constantly revisiting what we’re doing,” he said. “We’re trying to still keep that intimacy, but taking it onto the bigger stage at bigger venues.
The hardest part is which songs are we going to cut? We do have one or two rotating slots where we try to put in a different album track. We know it’s only going to please a certain segment of the audience, but we want to keep people interested while having them laugh and have them cry with us a little bit.”
With no signs of letting up, Wasserman says the rocket fuel for The Offspring’s passion is knowing that what while what they’re doing is not world-changing, the ideal goal is to succeed in keeping their fans happy.
“It’s all about sharing our angst and frustrations with the world,” Wasserman said with a chuckle. “I think at the end of it, it’s about putting smiles on people’s faces and I think we’ve been doing that better than we ever have in our entire career lately.”
The Offspring will be appearing on Sunday, Aug. 3 at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Pkwy, Wantagh. For more information, visit www.jonesbeach.com or call 800-745-3000.
