The Offspring

A lot of ’90s punk bands have, against all odds, aged with something resembling dignity and legitimacy. The Offspring is not one of them. It took approximately 10 seconds of 1998’s “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” for the group to declare it no longer had any interest in being categorized as “punk,” even by the heavily qualified standards of ’90s alt-rock radio. But “Pretty Fly” is pretty tame compared to the group’s latest single, “Cruising California (Bumpin’ In My Trunk),” a song that doesn’t even bother with the former’s barely there satire, instead opting for pure, put-this-in-the-background-of-The Hills-were-that-even-still-a-TV-show pandering, combining The Offspring’s own most regrettable tendencies with disparate, desperate bits of LMFAO and the Black Eyed Peas, plus the inherent sadness of party buses and dads. 

Updated 07/11/2012