For some reason I just had a punk rock kick.

I was listening to all my old high school classics, looking up stuff on youtube and found out that Rancid released a new album 6 months ago.

Holy crap this album (Let the Dominoes Fall) sucks.

Have they always sucked this hard, but I just haven't noticed it?

Come to think of it, I couldn't stand their last album (Indestructible) either.

Where did all the energy go?

Well, at least I can still listen to Up the Bracket.

I haven't heard it, and haven't heard much about Let the Dominoes Fall, but maybe they're just not your thing. I thought Indestructable was decent, but far from their best. If you want to dig into their catalog, start with Let's Go or ...And Out Come the Wolves.

Also, I'm not sure what the Libertines have to do with Rancid.

What kind of punk are you wanting to hear? Hardcore? Pop-punk or what? Do you have the first three Clash albums, Ramones, the Dead Kennedys, etc?

Let's Go has always been my favorite, with ...And Out Come the Wolves a close second.
But hell, people get old. The guys in the band are almost certainly in their 40's by now (or at least getting very close); they have bad backs and are maybe even developing the beginnings of arthritis.

BTW:
I liked Tim's solo album from last year. It was more of a twin-tone ska kinda thing, with no breakneck speed punk anywhere in site, but there are some good tunes.

i'm digging this loserdork guy.

and yeah, Up the Bracket is a CLASSIC.

I think he's implying that they lack passion now and he can always listen to an album that has this ineffable "energy", in this case, The Libertines.

It still doesn't make sense.

I think the band got popular and then spread themselves too thin. Pushing boundaries is fine (Life Won't Wait) but after that Tim, Lars, and Matt all put out solo albums and side projects and more Rancid stuff and we got over-saturated while at the same time they all ran out of ideas. I d/led the new album, thought it sucked, but then listened to it more and it grew on me to the point where I not embarrassed that I d/led it in the first place. then i deleted it.

I went back and listened to everything from Let's Go to the 2000 Self Titled, which were the ones I liked the best. They still stand pretty well today.

I remember reading a review somewhere saying that the Libertines were able to do in one album what Rancid had been trying to do their whole career (a relevant post-Clash sort of thing).

Go listen to Operation Ivy, has Armstrong Freeman when they were younger is better than anything Rancid ever did, more energy etc. One of the best punk bands ever.

Totally Agree