Despite a few raised eyebrows and plenty of critics, the first album from The Transplants was pretty fucking great. The merger of Tim Armstrong and Travis Barker’s songwriting efforts produced solid gold hits in ‘DJ DJ’ and ‘Diamond And Guns’, and tracks like ‘California Babylon’ and ‘Tall Cans In The Air’ made it an interesting and original record that went far beyond a “Rancid side project”. Unfortunately, the band’s follow up ‘Haunted Cities’ felt like a total mess. Lead single ‘Gangsters And Thugs’ went just a bit too far beyond ridiculous, and remembering that ‘What I Can’t Describe’ exists always makes any day just that little bit worse. The album went from that type of silliness (that was entertaining if nothing else) and a mixed bag of guest appearances to hookless punk tracks with some barked rapping over the top, and it all felt a bit rushed in the end. There were flashes of great ideas here and there, but it felt more self-indulgent than memorable and the execution left a lot to be desired.
Returning after a long hiatus a while ago, The Transplants have now finally unveiled their third album after months and months of tampering. ‘In A Warzone’ sees Armstrong & Co sounding more like a band and less like an experimental studio project this time out. Early in the record the “Rancid side project” vibe is a strong, not because Armstrong’s signature drawl sits over instrumentation that swings from ‘Life Won’t Wait’-esque moments to the more “punk” moments of The Transplants’ first outing here, but because a large chunk of the crossover elements that differentiated The Tranplants initially isn’t really as prominent on album three. That’s not to say that you can’t tell it’s them – you only need Rob Aston on a track for that – but tracks like opening salvo ‘In A Warzone’ and ‘See It To Believe It’ just have that about them.
‘Back To You’ and ‘Come Around’ are the first time the band really bring the pop rock influences in, and they end up being two of the better tracks on the album because of it. Armstrong and Aston bounce off each other best in these two tracks too. ‘Something’s Different’ is the first real appearance of the band’s “classic” punk rock vs rap vs pop blend (think laid back ‘California Babylon’ vibes), and it’s swiftly followed by ‘Any Of Them’, which would be a welcome addition to the band’s live repertoire ‘Silence’ recalls Rancid’s 2000 self titled effort, and although these comparisons might come across as lazy, the more The Transplants lean into punk rock territory here, the easier it becomes to compare them to Armstrong’s most famed outfit.
Up next is ‘It’s A Problem’, complete with “egyptian pulp fiction” feel (you’ll see what I mean), and it’s just about as bad as the worst bits of ‘Haunted Cities’. The guest spot in the track ends up being its only saviour, and after this the album’s closing three tracks return to a style that pretty much lands in the punk rock end of The Transplants’ sound.
In general, it seems like the band had trouble finding the sweet spot that the singles from their debut hit, and the swings from punk rock / rap to pop rap / rock and back again across tracks are a little too jarring to let the listener settle in. A little too much of ‘In A Warzone’ sounds like tracks you’d sit through to get to the hits towards the end of a live set, so it’s hard to imagine that the band will capture a new generation of fans ten years on with the strength of the album alone. It’s great that The Transplants are back (if only for the fact that the UK might get some action at some point) and Armstrong shaking things up a bit and reviving a fine project years down the line is also good to see, but ‘In A Warzone’ doesn’t quite feel worth the wait. It’s not even that it’s unlistenable so much as that it doesn’t really do much to entice repeat listens.
All that said, it’s certainly an improvement on ‘Haunted Cities’and The Transplants have never come across as taking themselves all that seriously, so despite the fact that ‘In A Warzone’ lacks a party punk dancehall filler, fans of the band should find plenty to enjoy. If it gets them over to the UK as well, then that’s fine by us.
TOM AYLOTT