Offspring
Splinter (Columbia)
How long can one tell a stale joke? On its seventh album, California pop-metal punksters the Offspring resorts to recycling its previous riffs and catchy hooks, the very same way the group originally stole from Killing Joke and the Buzzcocks.
The loopy keyboard-driven “Hit That” clones the band’s 1998 smash “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy).” Any tinge of social commentary immediately takes a back seat to stereotypes and potty humor, which provide the themes for “Spare Me the Details” and faux-ska “The Worst Hangover Ever.” However tactless, these prepubescent cracks are better than the songs on which vocalist Dexter Holland — who still sounds like Jani Lane of the ’80s hair-band Warrant — touts his supposed nonconformity. Not even the solid drumming of hired hand Josh Freese saves “Splinter” from being just as disposable as the pop culture the Offspring mocks.