I'm used to having mixed reactions to The Offspring, but this strikes me as a very strong outing for them. The lyrics are much more pointed than blunt on my favorite 5 tracks and the music is a very clean and cathartic sonic assault. I don't recommend the whole album, but...

"Rise and Fall" is one of those odd tracks that is so flawless that it's almost not even there because it glosses by with such form and elegance. It's very smooth and I like it a lot.

"Half-Truism" explodes over the top as a joyously spiteful retro power-ballad. Goes well as an absurdist chaser after "Gone Away."

"Trust in You" is an interesting character study track of the sort of person who has more scorn than common sense. It's surprisingly well crafted and driven.

"Nothingtown" seems to be the teenage gotta-leave-town angst response to The Killers "Read My Mind" with a bucket of ice-cold reality dumped over its head but trying to maintain a bit of hope regardless. The (out-of-place) doo-wop-iness of this track is comparable to, but nowhere as extreme as, TISM's "Greg! The Stop Sign!"

That said, "You're Gonna Go Far Kid" is far and away the best track in the batch. Some people complain that it's ear candy, but it's far too well written to be just that. It's a track about how dangerous competent rabble-rousers are and it's stunningly lucid. It's a fabulous piece of work. But maybe I'm biased in favor of the subject matter -- I judge debate tournaments for fun.