It’s been a while since I enjoyed a green day album fully. I think the last album I loved was American Idiot, some 16 years ago. The next outing 21st Century Breakdown wasn’t bad I just got bored with it quickly. After that we had three albums all in one year. I think it was a fun idea but they had so much filler it put me off. I think maybe one album with the best tracks of each would have been a winner. Then came Revolution Radio which I remember enjoying at the time, but off the top of my head I can’t name one song. Clearly it didn’t hook me enough to keep listening.

So I went into this album not expecting much.

First thing of note is the length. It clocks in at a short 26 minutes. This makes it their shortest album. Also the album artwork was a nice throw back for me. It is the same cover as American Idiot but zoomed in more on the arm, with a unicorn vomiting on the word “motherfucker”.

I loved the first song. I was out walking when I stuck the album on, gave me a proper bouncy pop punky vibe, which I LOVE from Green Day. Musically the album is punky in parts but also very old school rock and roll. There are some tracks where it almost sounds like they are channeling Elvis.  Stab You In The Heart is a perfect example of this. The sound is perfect rock and roll even down to the solo. I have seen green day live a few times and they tend to through in a few rock n roll covers. I think as a sound for them it works really well. Fun music you can dance along to.

Something I always loved from Green Day was Mike Dirnt’s bass lines. On this album he does not disappoint. I Was a Teenage Teenager is a prime example of this. A simple but effective bass line that scratches at Green Days punk roots. Nice simple song where the bass does the heavy lifting during the verses thus allowing the guitars to smash out the chorus.

I grew up with Green Day writing songs about being a stoned bored despondent teenager. Billie Joe has written some classic teenage tunes, and even some great political songs. I have found on their last few albums he’s been trying to recapture that. There are some examples of him trying to recapture his youth dotted around this album, Teenage Teenager being the most obvious. The last track Graffitia is quite a politically driven song. I liked it lyrically as it is nearly a modern answer to their classic Welcome To Paradise. 

I think lyrically the album falls down a bit especially when Billie is singing about being a kid again. Maybe more politically charged songs and less songs about heartbreak and being a teenager would save them.

Overall I enjoyed this album quite a lot more than I was expecting. It hooked me more than any of their more recent albums. I am not sure I’d be rushing out to pick it up on vinyl. Though there are enough fun new songs on it to keep my interest in the band alive all these years later. They are still a power house live so I am excited to catch the Hella Mega Tour later this year.

— Darryn