Daily Staff Writer

Ixnay On The Hombre

The Offspring

Creating a follow-up to the very successful, self-titled Offspring disc is quite a task in itself. Trying to do it on a major label while avoiding a sell-out sound is nearly impossible.

So Ixnay On The Hombre has a couple of good excuses, a couple of excuses it needs.

The Offspring’s latest is, without doubt, a disappointment after the band’s last record.

Although some songs are complete with the powerful, lyric-dominated Offspring sound fans are used to, a good portion of the disc is nothing more than lead singer Dexter Holland expounding on a different “yeah” chant.

“Mota” is a perfect example of the new and annoying Offspring style. Combine the band’s regular tempo with a stupid storyline and a chorus that bleeds with pop-radio cliches, and the new Offspring sound is complete.

“Me and My Old Lady,” is a big improvement from “Mota,” but still sounds more like a Motley Crue out-take than something from one of the better punk bands of this decade.

Ixnay’s savior is “Cool To Hate,” a voyage into complete pessimism. It rings with Offspring’s familiar musical interludes of quick drumming with overlying bass, and it features some cool lyrics about hating the jocks and anyone who is cool.

After a few listens, the CD starts to show a little more humor in some of the songs’ messages, but not enough to rescue the band from its abundance of dumb choruses.

Fans will definitely miss lyrical work such as “hey, hey, come out and play” and “stupid dumb-shit…” from the band’s last record.

2 1/2 stars

— Corey Moss

Nico

Blind Melon

Back from the dead are Shannon Hoon and the rest of Blind Melon for the posthumously released Nico, dedicated to Hoon’s infant daughter, Nico Blue Hoon, who was all of 13 weeks old at the time of her father’s cocaine overdose.

Thanks to unreleased songs recorded for the group’s sophomore effort, Soup, and guitarist Christopher Thorn’s portable ADAT eight-track digital recording unit, Melon fans get one more chance to hear tunes and talks: some new, some old and some covers.

The multi-media disc (that means CD-ROM) features remakes of Stepphenwolf’s “The Pusher,” John Lennon’s “John Sinclair,” and Melon’s breakthrough success song, “No Rain. (Ripped Away Version.)”

The 13-track CD is a different side of Blind Melon, shed of the need to be a commercial success. The songs are varied and give a glimpse of what the band was before the world met the bumble bee costume-clad reject on MTV.

New songs, “Soup” and “Swallowed,” which never made it to Soup, as well as songs recorded on tour, like “Hell” and “Life Ain’t So Shitty,” are gems that display the falsetto and hauntingness of Hoon’s voice.

They are raw and wrought with blues, perhaps shedding light on Hoon’s state of mind.

But the song that best shines light on Hoon’s spontaneous, no-frills spirit is “Letters From a Porcupine,” which was recorded on Thorn’s answering machine when Hoon called from his hometown of Lafayette, Ind.

The beep that cuts off the the edgy, blues mix ends the disc in an appropriate manner, reminiscent of a life cut short by drugs.

4 1/2 stars

— Kris Fettkether

Freak Show

Silverchair

The sound of Seattle is still alive, only it comes from Australia.

Silverchair singer Daniel Johns uses maturity and a heavier sound to support its sophomore effort, Freak Show.

The band even matures in its lyrics, pulling away from some of the nonsensical material on its debut and moving into new territories of child abuse and social neglect.

The first single, “Abuse Me,” is a good example, although the real message of the song is a little mysterious. “Freak” and “Nobody Came” are along the same line.

Gone on Freak Show is John’s Cobain-like vocal range; added is a new, rougher range, similar to other Seattle acts such as Alice In Chains and Soundgarden.

With the tougher vocals comes a much heavier guitar sound.

Bassist Chris Joannou shows much improvement in his solo work, and the drumming of Ben Gillies remains strong.

Freak Show displays a lot of potential with beginning tracks “Slave” and “Freak,” but never again gets up to that level.

“Cemetery” serves as a good midway ballad, and strikes similar sounds to “Tomorrow.” “The Door” follows with a different mood, and lays some old-school John vocals on top of a Screaming Trees kind of sound.

The latter part of the show is the most monotonous, leaving the overall feel of the disc a nudge under par. Silverchair didn’t slip with this record, but it doesn’t take any leaps either.

3 stars

— Corey Moss

All ratings are based on a scale of zero to five stars, with five being Dedric Willoughby and zero being Jerod Haase.