RANCID”. . . and Out Come the...

RANCID

”. . . and Out Come the Wolves”

Epitaph

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“Berkeley Calling” could be the alternate title. The 19 songs on this East Bay quartet’s third album can’t help but make you think about the 19 songs on the Clash’s third, “London Calling”--sharp punk mixed with forays into crisp ska and reggae, keen-eyed character studies spiked with fervor.

This lacks the big-picture perspective and cultural urgency of “London Calling”; Berkeley in ’95 isn’t the powder-keg of Brixton in ’79. But Rancid still brings a compelling sense of purpose to its songs. Rather than social calls to arms, these are individual ones. “Do you know where the power lies? / It starts and ends with you,” Tim Armstrong tells a troubled little sister in “11th Hour.”

That’s backed up with supercharged, if recycled, Brit-punk riffs full of barbed hooks, with Matt Freeman’s often stunning bass ensuring a memorable kick in every song. Sure, it’s hard to ignore such carbon-copy qualities as Armstrong’s faux- Cockney, Strummeresque delivery, but it’s also, well, hard to ignore.

The Clash followed with the glorious mess of “Sandinista!” Is there a ‘90s Berkeley version in store?

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e x cellent).