Whenever I do a review on either Offspring or No Doubt I generally preface the whole thing by explaining that before either of these Orange County bands broke I was playing around the same scene in a band that would more often not headline bills that included the aforementioned superstars. When these bands hit it big right around the same time, there was no one more surprised than myself.

Both bands have done pretty well for themselves, though Dexter and the boys are getting a little long in the tooth to be carrying on in much the same manner as the mid 80s. But God bless 'em anyway. Though it offers nothing particularly novel, Splinter is still a respectable effort. With the exception of the album's opener "Neocon" which carries an uncharacteristic political message ala Fugazi—the new record remains faithful to their "let's get the party started" credo.

Splinter sports plenty of frat-friendly chunky riffs and Whoa hey,hey, hooks—and though it won't make it on anyone's best-of list, for fans of Offspring both long-standing and newer, it delivers enough of the goods to get off on.