| From January 2000 to June 2002, Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong laboriously pored over loops and samples, collecting synth squeals and snatches of howling guitar and, naturally, writing songs. Aided by raging rapper Rob Aston, he’s put it all together to form this often intriguing and strangely beguiling side project. The opening’s not promising. With the death-riff of "Romper Stomper" followed by the urban R&B and chanted party-rock chorus of "Tall Cans in the Air," Armstrong flails badly. But then his Clash obsession kicks in once more. This London-Kingston-California hybrid is thoroughly weird but oddly touching. It rings out in "Weigh on My Mind" and "Diamonds and Guns," with its Sex Pistols-inspired marching intro, rollicking piano, and Stones-like woo-woos, while the closing "Down in Oakland" is an enthusiastic take on the Clash’s later spaghetti-western reggae. These, and Armstrong’s sonic experiments, provide interest, with adrenaline pumping from searing punk-metal bursts. Though Aston’s outbursts are often confrontational in the most predictable and tedious sense, Transplants is something new. --Dominic Wills |
