Punk's mid-'90s crossover gets told as a major-label story, but the biggest-selling record of the whole wave came out on an independent. Smash, The Offspring's third album, landed on Epitaph in April 1994 and is still cited as the best-selling album ever released on an independent label. "Come Out and Play" was the song that kicked the door in.
The band had been grinding since 1984 in Garden Grove, California, first under the name Manic Subsidal, with Dexter Holland singing and Noodles on lead guitar. Smash got them to a major label, and Americana followed in 1998 with "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)," "Why Don't You Get a Job?" and "The Kids Aren't Alright." A decade later "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" sat at No. 1 on the alternative chart for 11 straight weeks.
The lineup behind Holland and Noodles has turned over plenty. Founding bassist Greg K. was out by the end of 2018, and Brandon Pertzborn officially became the drummer in May 2023. Holland, meanwhile, finished a PhD in molecular biology at USC in 2017.
Supercharged, their eleventh album, came out on Concord in October 2024, produced by longtime collaborator Bob Rock and recorded in Maui, Vancouver and Huntington Beach. Its single "Make It All Right" went to No. 1 on Billboard's Rock & Alternative Airplay chart. Thursday's set puts them back in the stadium where they played Rock on the Range in 2017, on a bill topped by Metallica, Soundgarden and Korn.