The long-awaited (and somewhat controversial) new album from the Offspring, Ixnay on the Hombre,will feature a guest rant by former Dead Kennedy frontman Jello Biafra. The album, produced by Dave Jerden (of Jane's Addiction and Social Distortion fame) and due Feb. 4 on Columbia, includes such songs as "All I Want," "Gone Away," and "The Meaning Of Life."
   The controversy? The Offspring were in a nasty legal battle with their old record label, indie giant Epitaph (home to Rancid, Pennywise, and Nofx), over whether they owed their next album to the label in order to fulfill contractual obligations. The band brought in their attorneys to get out of the contract saying that Epitaph had somehow breached the contract. The end result: Epitaph gets to distribute and market Ixnay on the Hombre in Europe. Columbia gets it elsewhere.
   Expect a U.S. tour to start in May. Or, Australian fans can catch the band's show at the Big Day Out festival down under in January.