A major source of inspiration was seeing the people in Holland's hometown of Huntington Beach, such as the ' wiggers' who were mocked in 'Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)'. One of the influences was The Jerry Springer Show, with the band even considering naming the album after the show's news tickers such as 'Stripper Wars'. Holland also explained that Americana served as 'a commentary on American culture', satirizing hypocritical lives and political correctness. It may look like an episode of Happy Days out there in America, but it feels more like Twin Peaks.' He detailed that Americana was not thought right away as a concept album and 'this really cool social statement', though once the band recorded a few songs complaining about 1998 America, 'then we realized we had a theme'. We want to expose the darker side of our culture. Speaking of the album shortly after its release, Holland explained, 'The songs on Americana aren't condemnations, they're short stories about the state of things and what we see going on around us. Dexter Holland on Americana 's lyrics Īmericana contains themes of unhappy American lifestyles. So, I kind of expanded on that and made a lot of the songs kind of vignettes of my version of America in 1998' It's not living on the farm, it's going to Burger King. It's not Norman Rockwell anymore it's Jerry Springer. 'I was thinking about how American culture is distorted really. The chorus melody is reused on this album on the song 'Walla Walla'. Holland also contributed the song 'Too Much Drama' to the Vandals' album Hitler Bad, Vandals Good, which was released five months before Americana. The structure of the song more resembles progressive rock (having no repetitive sections and no continuous musical theme). 'Pay the Man' was even left off Ixnay on the Hombre for sounding too different from anything else the band had currently made at that time. We expanded our horizons on our last record and that's okay, but I don't feel like you have to be a completely different band on every record.' While most songs are the regular punk rock the band popularized, others such as the Latino-influenced ' Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)' and the psychedelic 'Pay the Man' add variety, 'so that there's enough in there so people don't get bored'. Holland told Guitar World, 'The idea wasn't to reinvent the wheel. Recording took place from July to September 1998 at Eldorado Recording Studios with producer Dave Jerden, who also produced Ixnay on the Hombre. We're in a place where we more or less set the boundaries where we can do a lot of stuff without having to stretch it out farther . I feel like we have managed to change stuff up from Ignition to Smash to Ixnay. Frontman Dexter Holland told Rolling Stone in August 1998, 'I wanted to write a record that wasn't a radical departure from what we've done before. After touring in support of Ixnay on the Hombre, the Offspring began writing new material for their next album.

Although Ixnay on the Hombre was not as well received as Smash, it managed simultaneous gold and platinum certifications in the United States in April 1997. After the unexpected success of Smash (1994), the Offspring were signed to Columbia Records in 1996, releasing the fourth studio album, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997).

The offspring full album