European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 06, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse The recent Success of Dexter Holland second from left and the rest of offspring will bring them Back to Europe offspring s vocalist graduates to Rock staff writer Ock was supposed to be a Mere sideline for Dexter Holland a graduate student in genetics at the University of Southern that doctoral dissection s been put on hold for a while. When you re hot you re hot and in album that s Clung to the top 10 for months is a pretty Good indication that you have other fish to Fry. _ _ you never got the Job you went to school for joked Holland the deadlocked vocalist for offspring calling from Spain for a Telephone. _ interview. Appropriately named smash offspring s a bum of California Punk has a certain collegiate air. It s As if a chorus \ of drunk fraternity Guys converged in Masse onstage to sing along with the bar band at the noisiest Beer Hall in town. However that does t take into account offspring s own Winso Mely Catchy lyrics _ and 1994 s most contagious tag line you gotta keep pm separated from Tome out and it did end up Benga Catchy song Holland acknowledged of come out and play a cautionary Blitz of vocals _ guitar and Drums that he wrote about gang activity in los Angeles. The tag line uttered in a Monotone at various l Points in the song came Early into the song s composition Holland said. I was trying to put the song together arid All i had was the Basic rhythm guitar. Then i came up with the line and spontaneously it All came the. Band s sense of irony goes o work with a vengeance on self eci a. Offspring s current hit from smash. The droning whiny vocals and Ultra Basic accompaniment offer just the right musical backdrop for the sad Story up of a 90s kind of Guy a sensitive Man who makes dessert for his wilful Girlfriend j Rafter she has slept with his friends come Home drunk and done All kinds of hideous things r _. _. I May be dumb. Hut i m not a dweeb i m just a sucker with rip self esteem " Holland laments pitifully. _ it s really Tongue in Cheek Holland confirmed. We re telling a Story in a kind of a humorous Way it s not the kind of thing that makes you hate yourself. v\.,- our songs tend to be kind of topical Holland continued giving As an example what happened to you in which the song s narrator is pointing out the dangers of a Friend s heroin habit would t say we re an anti drug band and the song snot meant to be preachy r or heavy it s More joke talking to your buddy and saying you re doing More of this than you should " smash s double Platinum Success came As much As a Surprise to the four Man band together since 1984, As it did to everyone else Holland said. We had no idea at All. We hoped it would sell 100,000 copies More Success Means More time on the Road and Holland drummer Ron Welly bassist Greg k and guitarist noodles will be Back in Europe this Spring. there Are a lot More people who want to see us play and we do want to play. Most of us have girlfriends at he me and i guess when the obligation to tour ends i d like to be at Home again. But shows Are a coif Jodeci group opens Germany tour with Kaiserslautern show sunday the on stage listing of Eyono contort classical Norfor manics and. Club events does not appear today. It is scheduled to of sum oot week _ on the underground streets Are poetry to musician g. Love staff writer you re talking with Garrett love about Seattle and it s not the dark Waters of puget sound the mountains lying East of the City or the fabled music scene that s struck a Funky chord with this East coaster what s grabbed his imagination is the Pink elephant carwash a 30-or 40-year-old landmark of Kitsch on Hilly Denny Way that s just far enough away from the Center of downtown to be considered an eccentric remnant of the pop luxe Era and not an eyesore. It s the coolest thing says love a Street musician from Philadelphia. Who s recording As q. Love with a Loose ensemble called special sauce. That s what i think about when i think of love s Choice of a memorable landmark reflects the Groove of the City streets he thrives on and the Low rent ambience of the Coffee cigarettes and cheap eats existence his songs characters inhabit a spiritual Kin to beat poets musicians Rickle Lee Jones and Tom Waits love is packing Small clubs across the states and his album o. Love and special sauce is getting Good word of Mouth. But he never lets his consciousness run too far afield from the streets or the characters that populate his songs the neighbourhood garbage Man Pool hustlers and soda Fountain Habi tues he watches from his spot on the Corner. On the streets it in t hard to find fellow musicians to play with and spontaneity and ingenuity Are their own rewards. _ people would just walk by and Start jamming he says of his Days playing on the streets of Philadelphia and Boston. When i could t find anyone else to go out with me i d go out by myself to play. You can always get a gig playing on the Corner. You re really free and you re really just playing for yourself. It s pretty Cool a love -. 1 says it s definitely rewarding. You re playing for people getting on with the people. And if the people give you the Light you Are the Boston however love found that playing in one of the most Well travelled areas7 near the City s subways did t always Garner an appreciative audience. Flanked by to monitors passers by often opted to keep their eyes on canned entertainment As opposed to live goods. It has occurred to him that Many americans Don t know How to appreciate the real thing if offered a Choice. Most people go to work and they just Don t care about live music he says regretfully. His own. Hopes for the future Are modest. Everything s always changing he says. You can Only go where you go i m the kind of person who needs to find a Little time for myself and my soul.". I Friday january 6, 1995 the stars and stripes 15
