Rancid (band)
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, former members of the band Operation Ivy, Rancid is often credited (alongside Green Day and The Offspring) as being among the wave of bands that revived mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s.[5] Over its 33-year career, Rancid has retained much of its original fan-base, most of which was connected to its underground musical roots.[6]
Rancid
Berkeley, California, U.S.
1991–present
Rancid has had two lineup changes since its inception, with Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman being continuous members. Their current lineup consists of Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals, and Branden Steineckert on drums. The band was formed by Armstrong, Freeman, and former drummer Brett Reed, who left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Steineckert. This lineup recorded their first album, with Frederiksen joining the band on their subsequent tour.
To date, Rancid has released ten studio albums, one split album, one compilation, two extended plays, and a series of live online-only albums, and has been featured on a number of compilation albums.[7] The band has sold over four million records worldwide,[8] making it one of the most successful punk rock groups of all time. The band rose to fame in 1994 with its second studio album, Let's Go, featuring the single "Salvation". In the following year, Rancid released its highly successful album ...And Out Come the Wolves, which produced its best-known songs "Roots Radicals", "Ruby Soho", and "Time Bomb", and was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA,[9] selling over one million copies in the United States alone. Its next six albums – Life Won't Wait (1998), Rancid (2000), Indestructible (2003), Let the Dominoes Fall (2009), ...Honor Is All We Know (2014) and Trouble Maker (2017) – were also critically acclaimed, though not as commercially successful as ...And Out Come the Wolves. The band released their tenth album, Tomorrow Never Comes, in 2023.
History[edit]
Early history (pre-1993)[edit]
Childhood friends Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman grew up together in Albany, California, a small, then–working-class community near Berkeley. The two had been playing together in the influential[10] ska punk band Operation Ivy from 1987 to 1989. The band became popular in the punk scene at 924 Gilman Street, a club and concert venue featuring Bay Area punk bands. When Operation Ivy broke up, Armstrong and Freeman decided to form a new band, and formed a ska punk band called Downfall, which disbanded after a few months. They then started a hardcore punk band called Generator,[11] which also disbanded shortly after. They also started the ska influenced Dance Hall Crashers, though they left the band shortly after it was formed. During this time, Armstrong was struggling with alcoholism, and to keep him focused on other interests, Freeman suggested they form a new band.[12] In 1991, they recruited Armstrong's roommate Brett Reed as their drummer and formed Rancid.
A few months after the band's inception, Rancid began performing around the Berkeley area, and quickly developed a fan following. Rancid's first recorded release was a 1992 EP for Operation Ivy's old label Lookout! Records. Shortly after releasing the extended play, the band left Lookout! and was signed to Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz's record label, Epitaph Records. Rancid released its self-titled debut album through Epitaph in 1993.
