Berkeley punk legends Rancid, literally my favorite band of all time, have never broken up or gone inactive, but they tend to go long stretches without releasing new music. Rancid’s last album was Trouble Maker, which came out way back in 2017. The band keeps touring, and its members keep themselves busy; just last month, Tim Armstrong reunited with his old Operation Ivy bandmate Jesse Michaels to form a new band called Bad Optix and to release the debut single “Raid.” Now, the Rancid machine has come back to life, and there’s a new album on the way.

Later this spring, Rancid will release Tomorrow Never Comes, their 10th studio album. The band recorded it with Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records boss Brett Gurewitz, the guy who’s produced most of their records. It’s got 16 tracks, which is really not that many for a Rancid album. Given Rancid’s past track record, even on their most recent records, it’s reasonable to expect that at least five of those tracks will be absolute heaters. We already know that one of those songs is a banger, since it’s the album’s first single.

Rancid have dropped a video for the Tomorrow Never Comes title track, which is also the album’s opener. It rips. “Tomorrow Never Comes” sounds like a Rancid song — fast, mean, deceptively intricate, catchy as all hell. I’m not sure about this, but this might be the first time that all three longtime Rancid members — Tim Armstrong, Lars Fredricksen, and Matt Freeman — trade off lead vocals. Freeman just yells the word “tomorrow” on the chorus, and his throat-shredded roar continues to make me extremely happy. (EDIT: Patrick Stickles writes in to point out that those three guys also traded off leads on “Honor Is All We Know” in 2014. That’s a good one, too!)

Tim Armstrong co-directed the “Tomorrow Never Comes” video with Kevin Kerslake, and it’s the classic Rancid thing where the band members are just playing the song in a living room — filmed in high-contrast black-and-white, looking cool as hell. In the next few months, Rancid will play a few festivals and a European tour. Below, check out the “Tomorrow Never Comes” clip, the album’s tracklist, and the band’s tour dates.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Tomorrow Never Comes”
02 “Mud, Blood, & Gold”
03 “Devil In Disguise”
04 “New American”
05 “The Bloody & Violent History”
06 “Don’t Make Me Do It”
07 “It’s A Road To Righteousness”
08 “Live Forever”
09 “Drop Dead Inn”
10 “Prisoners Song”
11 “Magnificent Rogue”
12 “One Way Ticket”
13 “Hellbound Train”
14 “Eddie The Butcher”
15 “Hear Us Out”
16 “When The Smoke Clears”

TOUR DATES:
5/28 – Las Vegas, NV @ Punk Rock Bowling
6/02 – Rimini, Italy @ Slam Dunk
6/03 – Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Media Center Cvetlicarna *
6/04 – Linz, Austria @ SBAM Festival
6/06 – Warsaw, Poland @ Letnia Scena Progresji *
6/08 – Hyvinkaa, Finland @ Rockfest
6/09 – Solvesborg, Sweden @ Sweden Rock Festival
6/10 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Annexet *
6/12 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle *
6/13 – Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof *
6/15 – Vitoria, Spain @ Azkena Rock
6/16 – Clisson, France @ Hellfest
6/17 – Dessel, Belgium @ Graspop
6/20 – London, UK @ OVO Arena Wembley *
6/21 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Victoria Warehouse *
6/23 – Ysselsteyn, Netherlands @ Jera On Air Festival
6/24 – Munster, Germany @ Vainstream Rockfest
6/25 – Tabor, Czech Republic @ Mighty Sounds Festival
9/21 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Fest
10/08 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock

* with The Bronx & Grade 2

Tomorrow Never Comes is out 6/2 on Hellcat/Epitaph.