The Offspring contemplate darker Days

Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman is back in Quebec City to play Festival d'été with his band, the Offspring, and he couldn’t be more stoked about it.

“It’s just a beautiful city,” he says. “It’s very European and it doesn’t feel like you’re in North America. I’ve walked down here to the Plains of Abraham from town before and hung out with some kids at a pizza place. It’s a bitchin’ city. I love being here.”

One of the most successful crossover punk bands in history, the Offspring have been making records for more than 20 years, and their ninth LP is Days Go By, which was released in June. The band plays Toronto’s Echo Beach on Sunday, Sept. 2, and Montreal’s Metropolis on Monday, Sept. 3, and Wednesday, Sept. 5.

As fans have noted, Days Go By is a moodier, more dynamic affair than what some have come to expect from the Offspring.

“We always throw some curveballs at our audience and I think there’s just a few more on this record,” Noodles says. “There’s half that’s fast and furious, melodic punk stuff and then half that’s very different. From the pop song to the reggae song to the straight-forward rocker and the ballad — there’s some different things in there.”

There’s a sense, too, that the band’s self-aware wit, so evident on inescapable hit singles like 1994’s “Come Out and Play” and 1998’s “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)” has been tempered on the comparably sombre Days Go By. If you’re looking to have a chuckle, your best bet on this record might be the gloss-pop mocking “Cruising California (Bumpin’ in my Trunk).”

“I think a lot of the humour in that song came, not so much from the lyrics but from all the stuff we did in the music,” Noodles explains. “I don’t think it’s as tongue-in-cheek as ‘Pretty Fly.' ‘Secret Family’ has more of that going on on this record. And then ‘Days Go By,’ the other single, is pretty serious. It’s about commiserating with people who are struggling, having a hard time and hope for the future. These days will pass and things will get better, that’s really what that song’s about. It’s all a mix of fun and serious commentary.”

Perhaps it’s just a matter of time passing, but Days Go By does mark the sound of the Offspring maturing and taking stock. In their mid- to late 40s now, the band’s members have less in common with the frat-boy pop punk they helped pioneer and it’s beginning to show. There’s even a nostalgic nod to their second album, 1992’s Ignition; the band re-recorded “Dirty Magic” for Days Go By.

“People don’t know much before Smash,” Noodles says. “The average fan knows Smash and Americana and then some of the records since then, but only the biggest Offspring fans have gone back and bought those first two records. That was a song that was on Ignition and we always thought that, if it got more exposure, more people would like it. We also thought we could record and play it better. We’re better musicians now and know our way around the studio better.”

Again, this seems like a move made by a band at a crossroads, looking back behind them for the first time in a while. Even the Days Go By album cover, with its old man sitting beside a young boy, seems to suggest some kind of reflection upon mortality and aging.

“Yeah, we really should’ve re-thought that title,” Noodles laughs. “We get this question in literally every interview.

“Really what we’re trying to say is that things are cyclical. You have good times and bad times. If you open the liner notes, you see that there’s a beautiful sunny day taking over this grim, grey landscape. So it’s really about hope for the future.”

As for their own immediate plans, the Offspring are solely focused on their upcoming tour dates and putting on the best show possible.

“We don’t write while we’re touring and really we’re focused on taking all the new songs and making them sound as good as they can live,” Noodles says. “Some times what sounds really good on your speakers doesn’t always translate into a lot of energy and theatrics live.

“I want to play all of these songs live and see how it works. When you’ve got 20 years of music that you’re competing with, some songs are not going to get voted in.”

The Offspring play Toronto’s Echo Beach on Sunday, Sept. 2, and Montreal’s Metropolis on Monday, Sept. 3, and Wednesday, Sept. 5.