Since reprising the what’s-the-best-Rancid-record argument with Noah Shachtman, I’ve been listening to Rancid nearly exclusively to, Obama-like, reexamine my assumptions for weaknesses. My argument: the first three Rancid records are so strong they eclipse the band’s later work practically by default. Noah’s argument: Rancid 2000 is the best Rancid record of all. I will present my findings like an IG report.

We conclude that the initial operative premises are ultimately correct, but Rancid 2000 deserves to placed in that same pantheon, for reasons of strength of songwriting, clarity of vision and power of execution. The d-beat and Motorhead influences on Rancid 2000 add an element of force — we used to call it hardness — missing from the earlier Rancid catalogue. It’s an excellent record.

But we also conclude that Rancid, the band’s 1993 debut, is an overlooked classic. We restate forcefully that the band’s career did not begin with the Radio EP or with Let’s Go. "Rejected" is the best Bad Religion song that Bad Religion never wrote. "Hyena," "Rats In The Hallway," "Adina," "Another Night," "Whirlwind" and "The Bottle" are classics, and show Rancid at a stage in its career before U.K. punk rock overtook California hardcore as an influence. The lyrics are frighteningly mature for the young Tim Armstrong. Matt Freeman’s cookie-monster growl is more pronounced and complementary to Tim’s material than on the one-prominent-song he typically gets on each subsequent Rancid album. The record is pre-Lars; as such there’s more howl than croon. If you don’t have it, download immediately. 

Now I have to read about this fucking Iran hidden-nuke-facility shit.