Dexter and Noodles from The Offspring discuss their notorious new ‘Cruising California (Bumpin’ In My Trunk)’ single.
When The Offspring debuted their newest single ‘Cruising California (Bumpin’ In My Trunk)’ recently, the internet was aflame with hatred for the tune (we also hoped it was a joke). Well, it does have autotune, rapping, and a hook about butts. Turns out it kinda is.
Singer Dexter Holland and guitarist Noodles have rationalised the song as “a fun summer song” during a track-by-track interview with Noisecreep.
Dexter said, “As I was writing this record, I realized I was writing some heavier songs, and they were a bit serious. Having some fun songs has always been a part of our band. I thought, ‘I should write a couple of songs that are a little more fun and on the lighter side’. Towards the end of the album, I wrote ‘Cruising California.’ It’s about what it’d be like if I was driving down the beach in my hometown on a nice sunny day in Southern California. I live in Huntington Beach so I thought that’s what I should write about. My hometown is great, and there’s a lot of fun reflected in the song. At the same time, there are some shady and seedy parts. I tried to put both of them in the lyrics. It’s a great place, but there’s a dark underbelly as well. Huntington Beach had some of the biggest riots in the ’80s and ’90s so that side of the place always existed.
He continued, “At the end of the day, I want people to know it’s a fun, summer song. Bob told me to write about Huntington. It seems weird to write about your hometown-like you’re bragging or something. He said people in the rest of the world have a different perception of California. It’s like a dream place. It might be where you live, but others don’t see it the way you do. You’ve got to have fun. It’s also a good way to cope. There’s a lot of silly stuff out there, and it’s good to laugh and have fun with it.”
Noodles concurs, “It’s a silly fun song. Some of the tracks are more serious and require more thought from the listener. This is about shaking your ass. I call these kinds of songs ‘ear worms.’ They stay stuck in your head and wriggle around for a few days. I wanted to call it ‘Caboose.’ That would’ve worked too.”
We must remember that these are the men behind ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)’. Their new album Days Go By will be released on June 26.
