Rancid Release Let The Dominoes Fall

Californian punks end six year record drought and talk to Rock Sound about life, music and more.

Posted Monday, 1 June 2009 in

Rancid Californian hard-nuts Rancid release their seventh studio album ‘Let The Dominoes Fall', 1 June through Hellcat, their first since ‘03’s ‘Indestructible’, ending a six-year album drought.

“There’s never a rush to do a record, we don’t succumb to outside pressures or put pressures on ourselves as we know that we’re going to be around for a long time,” axe-toting vocalist Lars Frederiksen told Rock Sound. “We’ve all been doing a lot of stuff but at the same time it’s like we’ve been continually together working with each other.”

‘Let The Dominoes Fall’ is the first album to feature new drummer Brandon Steineckert who stepped into the ranks in ’06 after the departure of founding member Brett Reed. “We are a much better band because Brandon is in it; he brings in so much creatively. As much as he’s a fan of ours, we’re a fan of his. Brandon’s brought a whole new life to the record,” Lars said of Brandon who admitted he’s a bit of a fan-boy when it comes to his new band.

“Seeing the picture on the album sleeve it’s like, ‘I’m one of those guys!’” enthused the drummer. “I was with Tim at my house and he showed me the final video for ‘Last One To Die’. I was so stoked to see the new Rancid video – except I was in it and that’s the weirdest shit to me. It’s awesome, but I don’t want to get too caught up in it where I’m the fan boy all the time as at the same time we’re all equals and we’re all trying to make records here.”

Like previous albums, ‘Let The Dominoes Fall’ focuses on global political events just as much as personal trials and tribulations. “There’s a lot of things happening right now in America, there’s a downturn; we picked up on that,” vocalist/guitarist Tim Armstrong added. "We write from the perspective of the underdog, the hard-working, working class American who is trying hard to make it. That’s who our families are and where we came from.”

The album ‘Let The Dominoes Fall’ is out June 1 on Epitaph.
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