Rancid Unplug, Jam With Booker T on 'Let the Dominoes Fall'

Posted on Jun 12th 2009 4:00PM by Dan Reilly
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Rancid's latest album, 'Let the Dominoes Fall,' is not only their first studio album in six years, it's also the first to include acoustic songs. "A lot of people ask us, 'How come you don't try an acoustic record?' co-frontman Lars Frederiksen tells Spinner. "The songs are written acoustically, so it's a natural progression for these songs," answers co-frontman and main songwriter Tim Armstrong. "We bring the guitars out and play acoustic sets all the time. We even played Tony Hawk's wedding that way."

The songwriting process Armstrong mentions wasn't unique to the two unplugged tracks on this album, 'Civilian Ways' and 'The Highway.' Between Rancid, Operation Ivy, the Transplants and various other projects, the 43-year-old has penned all of his songs on a '62 Fender acoustic that Rancid bassist Matt Freeman gave him. "Matt bought me that guitar for $200 when mine got stolen out of his trunk in '86," Armstrong says. "I took it to New York on a Greyhound that year. It was my only luggage for three days on the bus. That's my baby. I just look at it and it starts playing songs, man. I love it so much. I really do. I just pick it up and it starts to sing to me, not to sound weird."

The only person, it seems, who didn't want to hear Armstrong play on the Fender was legendary bandleader Booker T. Jones. The soul man contributes organ on the ska-influenced 'Up to No Good' and forced Armstrong to play it for him electrically before they recorded it. "I brought in the Fender and he saw my Gretsch electrics and said, 'No, i want to hear you play it," says Armstrong, who happily obliged. Though the pairing may seem odd, to Jones it was a no-brainer born out of loyalty. "We were going to get Roger from the Aggrolites to come in for that, but they were in Europe, so someone suggested Booker T. because he's on another Epitaph label," Armstrong says. "He said, 'Of course I'll play on their record. They're labelmates.' That's so old-school. He's a legend, and he just exploded on that solo on the second pass. I can listen to it over and over again. How f---ing rad is that?"

Though he's never held much back lyrically, the song 'Civilian Ways' is one of Armstrong's most personal yet -- it's based on his brother's return from Army service in Iraq. "It's not really about the war, it's about a human being coming back home," Armstrong says. "My dad cried when he heard it. I come from a family of sergeants -- my dad was in Korea and my brother's out now. I'm the arty one in the family, and they love what I do. I guess I'm like Sgt. Tim in Rancid and Lars is my sniper, not to take what we do too seriously. We play punk rock."

Despite that, the song nearly didn't make the album. "It was just going to be on this extended acoustic record, a special edition for people who are into us," Armstrong says. "Then [producer and Bad Religion guitarist] Brett Gurewitz heard it and said, 'That should go on the proper record.'" "Yeah, and thank God it did," adds Frederiksen. The special edition includes unplugged versions of 11 'Dominoes' songs and one bonus cut, 'Outgunned,' that was all done for one simple reason: "It gave us an excuse to record more," says Armstrong. "We love recording." Both editions of 'Let the Dominoes Fall' are in stores now.

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