O.C. Confidential (2005)
Reviewer Jesse Raub
This is the new Adolescents record. Their last album was released in 1988. That's seventeen years. Lots can happen in seventeen years.
For starters, the production on the album is slick. What charmed me originally was the raw, dirty, gritty production from their demo collection. There was such powerful angst and power behind those songs. But then again, they aren't teenagers anymore. Except for Frank Agnew, Jr., who's 18, and filling in for Uncle Rikk.
What the Adolescents bring on O.C. Confidential is an older, more matured view of the world. Instead of bratty, quick, easy songs, O.C. Confidential is full of 4-chord songs with intricate pieces put together. Songs like "Hawks And Doves" and "Where The Children Play" have rad guitar parts layered on top of each other. Does it mean that they fail to rock? Hell no. But songs like "Guns Of September" and "Death On Friday" are more relaxed and mature sounding than anything else in the band's catalogue. "Into The Fire" has a ska/reggae intro. "Within These Walls" is ultra-poppy/catchy. The title track, "O.C. Confidential," channels the same sort of anger/angst that I'm used to from the Adolescents. "Pointless Teenage Anthem" is a rip-roarin', well, teenage anthem.
All in all, it's a good album and a must-have for fans of the Adolescents. Though it's not quite the Blue Album, it shows a positive growth for the band as maturing punks tend to do.
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