... And Out Came the Wolves.

• Author: McKissack, Fred

Berkeley, California

Just when conservatives thought the punk revival consisted only of dyed hair, mo-hawks, tattoos, and body piercing, Rancid comes out of Berkeley, California, with a big loud boo-ya in lyrical content to remind everyone just what it's all about. And along the road from its early 1990s roots in the East Bay, the band has managed to find its way to "new-music" format stations and MTV.

Rancid's breakthrough hit "Time Bomb," from their third album ... And Out Come The Wolves (Epitaph), is a ska-influenced number that is reminiscent of the Specials. And like the Specials, you find yourself skanking up a storm to the energetic and bouncy feel of Time Bomb, only to be blown away by the lyrics: ,

"He's back in the hole/where they got him living like a rat/But he's smarter than that/nine lives like a cat/Take him to the youth authority home/The first thing you learn is you got to make it in this world alone."

Ah, the spirit of punk is alive and well in the souls and soles and sounds of twenty-nine-year-old vocalist-guitarist Tim Armstrong (who literally spits his lyrics), bassist Matt Freeman, also twenty-nine, drummer Brett Reed, twenty-three, and guitarist-vocalist Lars Frederiksen, twenty-three. Because of its hard-edged sound, and the relevant urban grittiness of its music, the band often finds itself compared to the Clash.

"I think the attitude and spirit may be similar, and Rancid and the Clash...