Kinda messy and loud. But different and worthwhile.
When I first heard the single ‘Father of All…’ my immediate thought (like everyone else) was that this song didn’t sound anything like a Green Day song. It seemed to have more of an element of The Black Keys, but nonetheless it made me excited to hear what new sound these boys will be exploring this time round (With a voice infliction no Green Day fan has heard Billy assimilate before). The sound was abrasive and fast, but still kept within the punk aesthetic of the band.
And then the second single ‘Fire, ready, aim’ came out. Which sounded exactly like The Hives… like… EXACTLY like The Hives. I defy anyone to listen to that song and, within the first 10 seconds, not think of those gnarly Swedes all suited ‘n’ booted in their less than conventional attire. Which doesn’t make the song any less of a decent tune, its just something a bit different for the taste buds.
So, so far it doesn’t sound like much of a Green Day album at all. But Green Day have always been a band that keep their punk rock essence within their aesthetic, whilst incorporating more generic elements of rock. Sometimes it lands, like their penultimate ‘American Idiot’ album. And sometimes it doesn’t, like their ‘Revolution Radio’ album (Which, to me, seemed like ‘American Idiots’ younger brother that didn’t get enough oxygen at birth).
However, this album does well enough in exploring other sub-genres of rock, whilst occasionally going back to the more familiar punk sound we’re used to hearing (Tracks such as ‘Stab You in The Heart’ and ‘Sugar Youth’ are good examples of this). There also seems to be a heavy influence of Armstrong’s son’s band SWMRS in the track ‘I Was a Teenage Teenager’.
There are a few slip ups on this album for me though. Songs such as ‘Meet me on The Roof’ and ‘Oh yeah!’ seemed too far away from the original sound that Green Day have honed in recent years for me to not think of any other pop-rock band. And, to be honest, the track ‘Junkies on a High’ sounds like a generic rock song that would be used on the trailer for a new crime series on Amazon Prime.
Overall, it’s the kind of album that I will enjoy listening to, but not for very long. This is because it’s a mixture of decent songs that seem to jump from one sub-genre to the next, barely holding onto the thread of essence that establishes what Green Day really is (or at least used to be).
Verdict: 3/5
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