Epitaph Vinilo y CD

Review: Bay Area punk legends Rancid are back, finally. Tomorrow Never Comes arrives six years after Trouble Maker, marking the longest gap between albums the veterans have ever managed since they kicked off in 1991. Of course there's a degree of expectation around a Rancid album, and all you need to do is stick on the first title track and you'll know you're getting the full hit. This is Rancid at their fist-shaking, shit-kicking best, with Armstrong and Frederiksen sounding as vital as they did on And Out Come The Wolves. Clocking in at 16 tracks in 28 minutes it's also their shortest album to date. Say everything you need to in less than two minutes - it's the Rancid way!

Review: Originally released in 2003 and now celebrating its 20-year anniversary, Indestructible served as the sixth full-length from punk legends Rancid. While initially criticised upon release due to the "poppier" sound certain fans took umbrage with, time has grown kind to the project which boasts some of the most personal penmanship from primary songwriter Tim Armstrong (of Operation Ivy), delving into his divorce from The Distillers' Brody Dalle (now divorcing Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age), as well paying homage to two influential heroes who died during the recording process: Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer, with the latter even being mentioned in the title-track. Known to be the final album with original drummer Brett Reed, and even featuring one of the most underappreciated cuts in their catalogue with closer 'Otherside', written by guitarist Lars Frederiksen about his brother Robert who tragically passed away two years prior, Indestructible deserves your reappraisal as it's slowly become the forgotten gem in the Rancid crown.

Review: Serving as a self-analysed response to 1998's ska and reggae-oriented Life Won't Wait, as well as growing criticisms that the band were slowly morphing into some form of Diet The Clash, punk legends Rancid would come to cave skulls at the turn of the new millennium with their second self-titled LP (after their 1993 debut), with many fans referring to the project as Rancid (2000) or simply Rancid 5. Reuniting with Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion to handle production duties (a collaborative role he has maintained with the group ever since), the project easily serves as the most aggressive offering in their entire catalogue, drawing on elements of hardcore and Oi! and imbuing them into their established ska-punk formula, moving far away from any Clash comparisons, and sharing more of a sonic kinship with the type of aggy, scuzzy, brassless hardcore ska of Choking Victim. At 22 tracks spread out over a near-40 minute runtime, you do the chaotic math.

Review: In the bleakest of midwinters M. Ward's re-reading of Billie Halliday's 1958 album, Lady In Satin, wears poignancy on its sleeve, teaching us things can be beautiful again, even if they seem broken. By the time she made the record, Halliday had damaged her voice through alcohol and drug abuse, but her efforts were still mesmerising (albeit somewhat divisive). Now, more than 50 years on, a man with a larynx at the softer end of the spectrum takes on that playlist, reordering and rethinking in the process.

Save for 'The End of a Love Affair' all the parts of Halliday's masterpiece are here, but they sound resolutely different. Not least far quieter. Passion runs throughout, indicative of Ward's deep love for the source material and the emotional quality that pervades all his work. Instrumentally, it's no less committed, throwing all manner of unusual chord progressions and riffs our way via irregular tuning techniques. A stunning record that's testament to coverer and covered alike.