Punk rock heavyweights Rancid recently announced a handful of tour dates including a stop in Boston on September 15. They last passed through in June 2013 for two nights so we’re overdue for a visit. Supporting them will be New York hardcore legends H20 and Rancid disciples The Interrupters. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 am and will run you $35 after fees. Upon announcing the dates, the band noted that $2 from every ticket will go to Musack, a nonprofit based right in Nantucket, MA that provides instruments and music lessons to the year-round population of “mostly working class, service industry families and their children.” Good on them.

I caught them in 2013 and they still sound great after all these years. The crowd was nuts and the pit was as crazy as ever. Watch some clips from that show. I’m hoping they’ve got their keyboard player in tow again this year because it added so much. Join the Facebook event. Your friends are probably going.

Rancid – “Old Friend” – House of Blues, 6/17/13

Rancid – “Time Bomb” – House of Blues, 6/16/13

All the Moonstompers?

Rancid last released “Honor is All We Know” in late 2014. Read our review here. They also quietly released a compilation of their ska material the past May entitled “All The Moonstompers”. On the one hand, you already made this compilation for yourself. On the other hand, orange vinyl and great album artwork! Apparently, this comp was the brainchild of Daryl Smith of British punk band Cock Sparrer:

“This album existed in my head long before it ever stood the chance of becoming a release you could buy. I’ve lost count of the amount of times that I’ve burnt CDs to listen to in the car with just the Rancid Ska tracks on. With the advent of iTunes and playlists, it made life a lot easier as each time I lost the CD I’d just burn a new one and each time a sharpie would come out and I’d give my home compiled CD a new name.”

Okay, sure, why not. The point is they only made 1,000 of the these on vinyl (yes, it’s available on CD, too), and according to the website, there’s only 76 left as of this post. Get on that! It promises B-sides and tracks from comps that didn’t appear on any of their album releases.

Speaking of quiet releases, did you hear about the Rancid tribute album with a gajillion tracks on it? More on that to come…

Head to the calendar for more ska shows coming up.