GREEN DAY Vinilo y CD

Review: Last year saw pop-punk legends Green Day headline the second instalment of the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas, following the latest resurgence of the scene and acclaimed new albums and tours from the likes of Blink-182 and Paramore. Not to be outdone (or more likely just sheer timing coincidence) the band are set to unveil their own "comeback" LP in the form of their follow up to the retro garage-pop collection Father Of All Motherfuckers which landed back in 2020. Simply titled Saviors, and promising to sonically and lyrically touch upon "power pop, punk, rock, indie triumph, disease, war, inequality, influencers, yoga retreats, alt right, dating apps, masks, MENTAL HEALTH, climate change, oligarchs, social media division, free weed, fentanyl, fragility", with a lead single boasting the mouthful 'The American Dream Is Killing Me', and Billie Joe's recent updating of the lyrics to 'American Idiot' to now denounce being part of a "MAGA agenda", it appears Mr. Armstrong and co. have some major pieces of mind to share with their avid followers and the unwashed masses at large.

Review: It's 1997 and Green Day have just unveiled Nimrod, their fifth studio album, with the clear intention of trying different ideas, en masse. Rather than specifically looking to release an album per se, the band convinced Reprise Records to let them loose on what's effectively a series of singles. Lacking the coherency of a full record, the fact it still bagged universally positive reviews - with many rightly pointing to its rousing and invigorating qualities (surely a product of its shape-shifting nature) - is testament to the band's deft abilities.

It certainly showed off the outfit's ability to craft these huge, memorable hook lines and melodies, the sort of tracks that you instantly feel you know, even on first listen. Veering between folk, punk, ska and skate rock, what's here may not have had quite the same impact as Dookie, but many ways this is a more convincing argument for their legendary status.