Green Day- 21st Century Breakdown

<---A Rock Journalist Rock Journalism- A dream job for me. I took a step toward that this summer with some intense photography stuffs at some shows and lined up some interviews. In an atempt at boosting my rock journalist cred here's a stab at a sacred cow of modern rock. It's a loving stab, kinda like how Brutus stabbed Ceaser.

If you keep up with former punk rock outfits, you surely know that once great East Bay out fit Green Day dropped a new album back in May. Right around the time my cat died, my girlfriend left me, and I turned 23 and felt like I was living my favorite Blink 182 song[What's My Age Again?](Screw off, Enema of the State was good for what it was(the album that opened my mind to punk music) at the time). That's a fragment. So anyway, Green Day is a band that, while I hold lots of nostalgia for, I hold no continuing respect for after Warning and American Idiot, so I didn't give the new one a fair try. So here's a track by track review:

Song For the Century: Fluff. nothing of real value here, they book end it on the last song(s).

21st Century Breakdown- Starts out like a Weezer song. Not awful, but not "Armitage Shanks" either. It then goes into some celtic inspired Drop Kick Murphys stuff. generic, but it couldn't brace me for the sudden 80's KISS that ends the song.

Know Your Enemy- This song sounds like it came off of Warning. I imagine this must be one of the lead singles. Its catchy, and doesn't stray too far from the sound they built between Nimrod and Warning, so its pretty safe for Mr. Radio™. Anyone can like this if they enjoy what the radio foists upon us.

¡Viva la Gloria!- This starts out as a piano ballad. It sucks. Then it stops, Tré clicks out a count off, and it goes into some rollicking pop-punk goodness with lots of melody. I actually like this one. It reminds me of some of the stuff on Nimrod. Pleasant Surprise.

Before the Lobotomy- What's up with the cheesy acoustic intros then exploding into rock? But hark! THIS SONG IS "WALKING CONTRADICTION" WITH A FEW EXTRA LICKS AND NEW WORDS!!! Shit you not... Check it at 1:20 and compare with the hit single from Insomniac

Greenday has aped everyone from the Doughboys, to Dillinger 4, to the Kinks. This doesn't speak to the originality of the band, when they recycle their 15 year old hits. I know that when you work with song structures that only use 3-6 chords in a song, you are gonna have some stuff that sounds similar to your other work, but Green Day by this stage knows how to write stuff that doesn't sound like Green Day.

Christian's Inferno- Weird new wave intro gives way to 3 chord rock and does that a couple times. Kinda Devo-ish at parts. The chorus is awful; I can't back this track... its lame. The outro reminds me of "Welcome to Paradise"

Last Night on Earth- Piano rock intro... I hate piano rock for the most part. I take that back... this is a piano rock song... its not God awful. Kinda Ben Folds-y; I like him. I'd make out to this song. Its nice, but not captivating so you can focus on technique.

East Jesus Nowhere- Remember that Holiday song? Not the one by Weezer or Madona, the one off American Idiot. "East Jesus Nowhere" is the same style. Green Day first used this percussive guitar style with "Hitchin' a Ride" as I recall. I would not be surprised if this one gets heavy radio play. This song is a bit too long

---It is at this point I realized the shortest song the record is 2:54, most being over 4 minutes. This is not Punx.---

Peacemaker- I point you too this Mitch Clem Comic-..... well I couldn't find it, but back in the late 90's every punk band had at least one ska song, and this sounds kinda like the band wrote a pretentious concept album ska song. poorly executed, totally forgettable. Its also has hints of kelzmer. Once again, trend hopping(lol folk/gypsy punk)

Last of American Girls- Poppy, kinda bland. Very much a throw back to the botched Warning album. Wow... Really poppy and way too long. There's a solo in here that needed to be omitted or used as on outro. Which is one of the short comings of this album. The songs go on too long saying the same thing over and over

Murder City- Straight forward pop-punk. I really like this one. Its the shortest track, and sounds the most like the Green Day I love, but has a nice solo in the middle that doesn't come across as forced displays of talent(like many others on this album) This one is a keeper.

¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)- Very Klezmer intro. If you don't know what Klezmer is, think "Hava Nagila". Its a folk music with roots in Jewish European culture. This song has little in common with ¡Viva La Gloria! earlier on the record sound wise. The connection must be in the lyrics which advance the concept of the album, which I've not paid much notice of

Restless Heart Syndrome- Mid career Beatles intro. Very Brit-pop sounding song. I guess this one was supposed to appeal to fans of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". I'm sure its all through out the album, but this song has a distinct wall of sound: string sections, layered guitars that strum and drone and twinkle at the same time. This is a well produced song, but really not what I come to Green Day for. If you can't tell, I'm trying to be as fair as I can. I don't want to lam baste the whole thing, so if something stands out on a track, I'll mention it. I can't help it if a lot of what stands out is how bad some of these songs are. In the case of this one, its a solid song, but not a Green Day song in my mind. If Oasis or Suede had cut it though...

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades- So much like the Hives and other neo-garage rock bands, its uncanny. I swear if you had Jet or Jack White singing this, you wouldn't know it was Green Day. I like that stuff, but it just seems out of place here.

The Static Age- Despite the title, the Misfits don't abide in this song. Its pretty generic rock and roll, nothing stands out here. Its not bad, but it certainly isn't good. Mediocrity oozes from this one.

21 Guns- I think this is one of the lead singles. Total radio trash balladry. This is 21st Century Breakdown's "Boulevard"

American Eulogy (Mass Hysteria/Modern World) Song For the Century repeats then goes into two excellent tracks that wrap up the story. "Mass Hysteria" bleeds out into "Modern world" in the way "Brainstew" broke down into "Jaded". Modern World is classic Green Day sound. I love this track. They two songs sort of converge at the end, and they partner perfectly. This is what the majority of the album SHOULD have sounded like. You have mature songwriting and musicianship that does not compromise the sound the band established in their early heyday on Reprise

See The Light- Some Who homage is going on here. Not bad, but like the rest of the album, is cleaned up to appeal to the masses. Which leads me to this conclusion-

21st Century Breakdown would have been an excellent album from another band or a post Green Day project from Armstrong(who from certain sources, is currently the driving creative force in the band). There are some very good songs on this that will never get proper attention because of the direction the band seems to want peruse musically. I stand by my statement I made after American Idiot came out– Green Day should have quit after Nimrod and done these projects under a different banner.

Nimrod, while not the band's magnum opus (I maintain that honor goes to 1996's Insomniac), was a perfect album, capturing a band that had run its course in the best way possible, by burning bright, working hard, and growing up. Now we see this band some 10 years later still trying make buck off a revered moniker. People forget that Green Day's second wind came after a hiatus, a piss poor album(Warning), an aborted album, and a near break up that was only resolved through band therapy. That's some Spinal Tap shit.

I make this claim about performing under a new moniker, because I know that all of these members could do it. Ever hear of Pinhead Gunpowder? This San Francisco punk super group has had moderate success despite limited performances, focusing mostly on recording. Armstrong plays guitar and does some vocals. How about Foxboro Hot Tubs or the Network? Both of these Green Day side projects sound nothing like the classic Green Day albums(meaning they are of the same ilk as the last three Green Day albums) but enjoy moderate success with limited promotion. Mike Drint also enjoys some side project success, filling in with Screeching Weasel around the time of How to Make Enemies and Irritate People, and more recently with The Frustrators. Is there really any need to drag the old East Bay pop punk institution through the mud anymore?

I can understand why some rock journalists are praising this album, but I feel that when reviewing albums, many people don't look at history of groups. But I guess that's why I'm a blogger and not making the big bucks with Rolling Stone.

*note: the term sellout did not appear in this blog until now. Let's not resort to petty name calling, after all.

New Records

I just made a miniature haul for most record collectors, and what amounts to finding a 200 karat red diamond the size of my fist for me. I live in a pretty small town for America, and since the downfall of Grand Palace Records, Hardcore and Emo being sold in stores has been scarce(read:nonexistent)

But today I have found three awesome LP's of 90's hardcore and emo

Heroin s/t looks to be an older pressing, at least it has a different cover that the pressing currently for sale from Gravity(its lighter, no green on it either)

Rorchach- Remain Sedate- pretty sure this is from the first (only?) press run of this band featuring th founder of Gern Blandsten records

Unwound- Repetition is from 1996, and is when the group began to add other instruments that treadionally weren't "rock". Not my favorite stuff from them, but better than nothing.

Farethee well Michael, you creepy bastard

People who write off the king of pop because of the child abuse allegations have missed the mark. I think most people who ever watch his rare post 90's press appearances can agree MJ was bat shit insane by then. Its sad that after putting in all the work into staging his comeback, he died.

I'm not looking to wax philosophical, or gossip about the bizarre circumstances of Jackson's death, but I do have one thing to share with you all...

A somewhat rare MTV short piece-milled together from footage from a lesser known anime called Mighty Space Miners. This is one of several Cartoon Sushi shorts(I briefly discussed this MTV animated anthology a month or five ago in the entry entitled "Cartoons") that were made this way, collectively known as UltraCity 6060. Clips are cut up, poorly dubbed and displayed out of context to mixed effect. This is one of the better ones. I like to think of it as what would have happened had things not gone south for Michael in 2003.

I present UltraCity 6060: Planet Jackson

What I love most is Quincy Jones in the clip looks like a white Quincy Jones. I read somewhere that computer is supposed to be Donnie Osmond or something.

Back in inaction

Today I did my first solo radio show with WMTS. Urusei Punk Rock!! got off to a rough start. I didn't get to bed until 5:30 last night, as I was working on my computer. I then had to be up at 9 for the show... that didn't happen by the way. I got there late, had forgotten my iPod with the show's play list already made out, so I ran the show using CDs and records. This is not a big deal, it just means your board is tighter than a band of sun dried raw hide around your neck. I was scatter brained, hungry and tired as hell, but I made it work. 

If you're wondering, I play pop-punk and hardcore on my show. I'll be recording it next week and will upload the recording in two parts. I'm gonna try and see if I can somehow record on my computer which will let you hear it all, uninterrupted. Doing a 2 hour show on CD-R means there's a gotta be something missing, and it get freaking expensive. 

Anyway, today is my birthday, so here's so stuff for you because I'm feeling magnanimous. This was one of the hidden gems I got 5 months ago when the station pitched out its library. Fucking morons... I was incredibly angry. so much great music was just thrown away. This is a CD from Books Lie, a Brooklyn band that stuck around for a couple years longer than most hardcore bands seem to do. They were still jamming out their brand 

of hardcore as late as 2004, and thus far I've not been able to find out

 much more since then. They were wanting to head over to Japan, but since they disbanded in 2005, I very much doubt that worked out for them.  

The music really reminds me of the stuff coming out of San Diego in the early 90's. Antioch Arrow and Heroin come to mind. This CD is the Hall of Fame of Fire EP and a bunch of old 7"s so you get a good bit on this one. That said, if you piece it together right you can hear the band's evolution. this is of course true with most discographies or collections, but this one isn't in order, so I figured I should state that. I don't know why I felt the need to state that, or justify it. Welcome to meta-blogging? Anyway, the chronological order is as follows-

9, 11-14, 16(I Felt Like Such a Loser Until I Realized I am Already a Winner); 15(Split with Living Under Lies); 17-18(Empathy 7"); 1-8--  and no info on what track 10 is... must be one of those B-sides I hear so much about these days There's a weird electro track that is better off ignored. I'm guessing they are there to punctuate the sections of this collection as the end of the titular EP is also one of these oddities. 

This is on Level Plane. I really dig their roster. If labels like Dischord and Gravity captured scenes at a special place and time, level plane seems to be a who's who of the last 10 years of this music, what ever you want to call it. 

I'm not including art work on this one, as you can google it. Enjoy.

Also, Bad Skulls' has launched their new site with more awesome shirt designs for every kind of hardcore  music you can think of, and more importantly- Posters and records(mostly Look Back And Laugh stuff, but that's more than OK)

Books Lie:

Brooklyn, NY

1999-2005

Hall of Fame and Fire CD

Level Plane Records 61

2004

And another thing-

If you are interested in cycling, my lame day to day existance, random musings, and anything i enjoy that isn't covered in this blog, please check out my other "personal" blog Hi Losers. . . I'm Here. I'll be getting my laptop back on Friday, and I'll have my real post of the summer up before too long.

More new stuff, still no posts

Right now the only thing hindering uploads is the absence of my computer. Since I rip music from it, it is obviously the second most important element of the sharing process.(after the record/cd/tape, of course). But when it comes back, I'll have a lot of stuff for the summer. Lot of CD rips, and some cool vinyl rips, and a sampler from this baby-

Yep, the Dolcim LP, Guillotine Ride finally hit, just in time for tour. I spent a lot of time this weekend hanging out with my friend Jonathan and Sean(Dolcim's bass player), who is a mutual friend through different circles from many moons ago. Dolcim is heading out on their first tour(today, I think) which is also their first European tour. Doing it up Gorilla Biscuits style, I guess. Needless to say, Sean hooked us up with the CD-R of the 12", and two copies of his solo project, Kafka on the Shore, which is pretty much amazing. Its all instrumental, and is available on tape only at the moment. I'll also be posting up a few select tracks for you at a later date as well.

I also got some other cool records, such as the Urusei Yatsura Drama Special 12" from Japan. Urusei Yatsura is a much beloved Japanese anime TV show from the 80's, and if you like Japanese culture, its probably the best series representation out there. Its full of humor that most non Japanese would have no hope of comprehending if not for extensive translation notes, a familiarity with the language, and too much exposure to Japanese pop culture, history, folklore, etc. As a terminal nerdking, I can say I dig this enough to buy a mint condittion copy of the record and pay for the shiping from Hokkaido. Since there are only two tracks of music (the rest being a promotional radio drama for the second season of the show, in which the important parts of season one are recapped) I'll only be putting up those tracks. Also to come are a metric buttload of 7"s and a smattering of 12" records.

Still more exciting for me is that I am going to be doing some music stuff of my own. Jonathan came to me about two weeks ago with a plan to write and record an album of predominantly instrumental bits. I've been roughing out some guitar parts for the last week, and I think we'll have the rest of the first song written out by the weekend. I'm doing all the guitar and bass, While Jonathan will be doing some percussion, keys, and horn. We'll be bringing in some friends to help as some of the ideas are a little out of our reach as musicians. Mostly it will be some more complicated drum parts that I can write, but not perform(I honestly can't play drums at all... not one single rhythm). And since we happen to be good friends with a pretty damn talented session drummer, He'll be assisting us at points.

The project is called Imperialism After Dark, and we plan to incorporate some familiar bits of pop culture into our music as short melodic fills, modified drum beats, or just jumping off points with little to do with the original works, as has become the case of the song I'm currently churning out.

We have no idea as to when or how the release of this stuff will go down, and the planning isn't all there. Its one of those things where if we don't just get up, rush headlong into it, the thing will go on a dusty shelf of aborted projects, along with a ska punk band, a feature film, a Le Mons race team, and a zine. Its a do or die situation.

More to come-- Stay tuned

shucks-howdy!

So i had a fairly productive weekend that brought two new titles into my vinyl collection. I went to a small CD/Record show in my home town and was about to leave emptyhanded(most of what I wanted I could get elsewhere for less or was available from the lable still.) when i won the door prize of a 25.00 gift certificate to the one vendor who had had nothing I wanted. So i flipped back through and found a demo copy of the Ramones' Leave Home album, notable for still having the song "Carbona not Glue" as opposed to "Baby Sitter". Awesome. I wonder what else that guy had that I over looked? Anyway, with a bit of funds freed up, I was able to also get 97a's Abandoned Future 12" picture disc. Both are in great shape, and I may rip the 97a disc at some point.

I'm also looking into building a collection of anime sound tracks on vinyl too. its fiarly cheap since the demand is low and it looks cool too. The japanese are all about pacaging if you've never looked at the stuff coming out on their major lables. Its pretty elaborate, lots of hardbound liner notes and stuff.

Speaking of Japanese stuff, i gotta couple of Japanese hardcore/emo CDs from the station's great dumping of music that im gonna rip for you all, as well as some other cool things I've found, and expect updates to resume in early May. TTFN!