Bubblegum pop meets the Sex Pistols
Thirty years on, the three punks of Green Day are still making one hell of a racket
GREEN DAY: Saviors (Reprise) Verdict: Back to basics ★★★☆☆
SLEATER-KINNEY: Little Rope (Loma Vista) Verdict: Pained but powerful ★★★★☆
BILLIE Joe Armstrong can pinpoint the precise moment his world went to hell in a handcart. ‘Ever since Bowie died, it hasn’t been the same,’ he rages on Strange Days Are Here To Stay, a track on Green Day’s 14th album.
Whether it’s global turmoil or just his late-running Uber, the punk veteran traces all his issues back to his hero’s passing in January 2016.
There’s no suggestion that the Thin White Duke is directly responsible. Armstrong’s lyrics bristle with indignation, but there’s humour at play, too. And the song, driven by twin harmony guitars that recall Thin Lizzy, is one of the most memorable on an album that sticks to familiar punk-pop styles while adding a few unforeseen twists.
Saviors is a step up from 2020’s Father Of All . . . , a disappointing record that’s high on puerile gags and low on imagination.
Green Day have been refreshed by the return of producer Rob Cavallo for the first time in 12 years. Cavallo was at the helm on the band’s 1994 breakthrough album, Dookie, and 2004’s landmark American Idiot, and he brings a reliably tuneful punch to the 15 new songs here.
FOR a trio, Green Day make one heck of a racket. Singer and guitarist Armstrong is ably backed by bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool, and there’s a robust confidence to songs that mix bubblegum pop with a surging guitar sound that nods to Sex Pistol Steve Jones (on Look Ma, No Brains!) and Pixies’ Joey Santiago (on Bobby Sox).
A sense of loyalty to their roots — they emerged from California’s Bay Area punk scene in the 1980s — sometimes spills into parody. ‘Hit me with power chords,’ roars Armstrong on Corvette Summer.
The American Dream Is Killing Me recycles the sentiments of American Idiot, an album the band turned into a successful Broadway musical.
But they also tweak the formula. Dilemma, about alcohol addiction, is all minor chords and doo-wop hooks, while Goodnight Adeline is a softly-strummed break-up ballad. ‘My spirit’s broken,’ laments Armstrong.
There’s more heartache on Suzie Chapstick, with Cavallo supplying piano, while Father To A Son is lifted by David Campbell’s orchestrations. ‘We are the last of the rockers making a commotion,’ crows Billie Joe on the title track. That’s pushing things, but there’s a renewed sense of purpose here that suggests Green Day will be worth catching on their summer tour.
There may be life after Bowie after all.
■ MUSIC is a welcome sanctuary for American female duo Sleater-Kinney on Little Rope.
Taking their band name from a street in Washington state, lead singer Corin Tucker and guitarist Carrie Brownstein look to 1980s alternative rock and 1990s grunge on a set of aggressive but expressive songs that deal with bereavement and rehabilitation.
Midway through the making of this record, in the autumn of 2022, Brownstein’s mother and stepfather died in a car crash while holidaying in Italy, and the emotions here are understandably raw.
The fast and furious opening track, Hell, is as bleak as its title suggests. On Hunt You Down, Tucker sings of being ‘down so long, I pay rent to the floor’.
But there’s remarkable resolve amid the anguish. Say It Like You Mean It, a demand for honesty in a crumbling romance, is a wonderful pop moment, and the sense that life must go on is acute on Dress Yourself.
‘Give me a reason, give me a remedy,’ pleads Tucker, as Brownstein augments her prayers with unexpected bursts of discordant guitar.
■ BOTH albums out today. Green Day play Dublin’s Marlay Park on June 27 (ticketmaster.ie).