If the members of Rancid seem to share a deeper bond than most bands--
or most anyone, for that matter--it's because they do. From Tim Armstrong
and Matt Freeman, their childhood friendship in the working class enclave
of Albany, CA (a one-square-mile town bordering Berkeley), to the subsequent
additions of Brett Reed and Lars Frederiksen(in 1991 and 1993, respectively),
they have depended on one another for friendship, support and even survival
for the better part of a decade. 

Friends from the age of five, Tim and Matt began playing together in high
school, eventually forming the short-lived but vastly influential Operation 
Ivy. From its 1987 inception, Op Ivy would become the keystone of the East 
Bay scene that centered around the Gilman Street club/musician's collective;
the scene around which the lives of all four Rancid members would converge. 
The band's 1989 break-up found Tim spiritually adrift for a spell, eventually 
straightening out with help from Matt as they co-founded Rancid in September 
1991. When it came time to recruit a drummer, Tim turned to friend and roommate 
Brett Reed, with whom he'd been sharing a crash pad over a liquor store on
the South Berkeley/North Oakland border. That Brett had been playing for all of 
six months was hardly an issue; Rancid was playing shows within two months, 
releasing its first single on Berkeley-based Lookout! Records (the label that 
released the posthumous Op Ivy compilation, as well as formative releases from 
Green Day, Avail, Econochrist, Isocracy, Crimpshrine, et al.) in 1992. 

The original three-piece Rancid line-up soon signed to Epitaph Records, recording 
and releasing a self-titled debut LP by 1993. Meanwhile, the band had set about 
recruiting a second guitarist. (Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong--no relation to 
Tim--even filled in for one show and co-wrote "Radio" which would appear on Rancid's
sophomore effort, Let's Go.) Lars Frederiksen, a native of neighboring Campbell, 
CA who'd done a stint in a late model version of UK Subs, was approached but initially
demurred in favor of sticking with his own band, Slip. When Slip broke up, however,
Lars signed up, learning the entire Rancid song catalogue in one week. 

Consisting of 23 songs recorded live over the course of four days, 1994's
Let's Go both focused and expanded upon the raw fury of the previous year's 
debut. LP opener "Nihilism" introduced the Lars/Tim dual vocal that has since
become a signature of the band's sound, as the two traded true to life tales 
of their hardest times. Let's Go featured track after track that remain staples 
of the Rancid live show to this day: "Radio," "Tenderloin," "St. Mary," "Ghetto 
Blaster" and of course the single/video, "Salvation." A humble chronicle of Tim's
tenure as a Salvation Army resident/employee, "Salvation" broke into the MTV 
playlists, providing the band with its first taste of mainstream exposure..
for better of worse. 

By the time Rancid came off a marathon world tour supporting Let's Go, the major
label A&R weasels were nipping at their heels and banging down their doors. More 
than once, seven-figure offers were made. And more than once, they were refused.
(Check the lyrics to "Disorder & Disarray" from the following year's ... And Out 
Come The Wolves for the full details.) The band remained with its indie label home,
rejecting the majors' front-loaded life-term deals in favor of the artistic freedom
and control afforded by their unique Epitaph contract. 

... And Out Come The Wolves came out like gangbusters in 1995 with a triumvirate 
of instant classics: "Roots Radicals," "TimeBomb" and "Ruby Soho." ... Wolves saw
Rancid shattering stereotypes and limitations, as they established themselves as 
punk rockers capable of world class songwriting. "Roots Radicals" mixed memories 
of the bandmembers' personal and musical comeuppance with an avowed passion for
reggae music, culminating in one of the most rousing choruses ever committed to 
vinyl. "Time Bomb" kicked open the floodgate for an impending neo-ska revival. 
"Ruby Soho" was a rare gem in the form of the quintessential Rancid love song.
Additionally, "Journey To The End Of The East Bay" and provided a historical 
narrative of the Gilman St. era, "Daly City Train" eulogized a departed friend,
"Junkieman" featured a poetic interlude from Jim Carroll, and "Alleyways & Avenues"
sounded a new generation's clarion call for racial unity. 

Once again, Rancid hit the endless road. The... Wolves tour wrapped 
up with Lollapalooza 1996, where Rancid played alongside mentors the 
Ramones, fellow Bay Area residents Metallica, Soundgarden and more.
The close of Lollapalooza marked not only the end of Rancid's 1995-1996
itinerary, but actually the first appreciable time Tim, Lars, Matt and
Brett would spend apart since 1993. Perhaps this interval with no recording
or touring plans on the horizon gave rise to some of the more introspective 
lyrics on the new Life Won't Wait. Perhaps not. Either way, the relatively 
brief hiatus gave way to year's worth of sessions in various locales 
that would eventually be distilled into the most diverse, accomplished 
and overall satisfying album of Rancid's career. 

... Which is not to say that Life Won't Wait is a radical departure. 
Anything but, actually. Just as ... Wolves was a logical step forward
from Let's Go (and as Let's Go was to Rancid), Life Won't Wait is, quite
simply, the next Rancid record. Nothing more, nothing less.
      
Recorded over the course of a year and in San Francisco, Los Angeles 
(in Tim's own home studio, Bloodclot Studios), New York, New Orleans 
and Jamaica (They didn't go to Cuba, despite what you may have read.), 
Life Won't Wait's highlights are as varied as theyre plentiful. 
"Bloodclot" is a punk anthem as powerful as any ever recorded, replete
with Lars' lyrical nods to Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Ramones (not 
to mention a bass break evoking the best of Entwistle and Foxton).
"Warsaw" and "New Dress" explore world scale class struggle and 
out-and-out warfare, the latter drawing brilliant parallels between a
working class girl struggling to stretch her budget and children
fighting to survive in the former Yugoslavia. "Backslide" sets the tale
of Tim's move to L.A. to an R&B flavored backdrop with an irresistible
chorus. "Leicester Square" wears a mod influence on its sleeve, with 
gritty Rickenbacker guitar tones propelling the true story of a friend
attempting to rise above his gangster past. "Hooligans" spins similar 
tales buoyed by the legendary guitar and vocals of Roddy Radiation, 
Lynval Golding and Neville Staples of The Specials. 

Of the two songs actually recorded in Jamaica, "Hoover Street" is a 
poignant addict's lament ("It's who I am, baby/Back to it") with sweet
soulful vocal assists from Hepcat, while the title track features Tim 
and Lars sparring with dancehall kingpin Buju Banton against a canvas
of urgent old school ska...and holding their own. The San Francisco 
sessions offer up the record's-and probably Rancid's--most daring 
stylistic stretch to date, "Cranefist." Hammond B-3 organ and acoustic
piano duel over rock steady bottom and rimshots, while Tim and Lars 
take their vocal skills to new levels of deftness (or should that be
def-ness?). New Orleans' "Cash, Culture & Violence" returns to more 
familiar territory with help from Mighty Mighty Bosstone Dicky Barrett,
while "Wrongful Suspicion" and straight up punk of "1998" and "Something
In The World Today" pay homage to Rancid's East Coast family: The former
with Lars' numerous shout-outs to NYC allies, the latter two paying 
homage to the Lower East Side punk/HC scenes through vivid lyrical 
imagery and a cameo from Agnostic Front-man Roger Miret. 

Self-produced, culled from life experience, and played live in large 
measure, Life Won't Wait is as ambitious and independent as it gets. 
It's real, it's Rancid, and in these times, that's more than enough.