Green Day's New Album Will Enrage Elon Musk and the MAGA Masses [View all]
A strange, and frankly pretty dumb, thing happened recently when the world suddenly seemed to remember that Green Day is a political band. To most of us, that was a “well, duh” moment: These are the guys who made an entire Grammy-winning, Bush-flaming opus about American idiocracy. But then there were the others who were either genuinely, or more likely performatively outraged—a meltdown spurred by Billie Joe Armstrong tweaking an “American Idiot” lyric from “I’m not part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.”
The ensuing online backlash involved Elon Musk pouting, “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it,” and others ignorantly scratching their heads over the trio “getting so political these days” and urging them to “stay out of politics.” But ever since the band—singer/guitarist Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool—broke out of the Bay Area 30 years ago with catchy pop-punk anthems for a jilted generation, it’s always been obvious what side of history they’re on.
That vociferous streak continues on Green Day’s 14th studio album, Saviors, out on Friday. If you do have the time to listen to Billie Joe whine, there’s plenty here to get excited about, with 15 songs that straddle the line between teenage spirit and wisened adulthood. They’re back to their lovably insolent ways on “Look Ma No Brains,” and they wax nostalgic on “1981” and “Suzie Chapstick.” Then there are the more grown-up offerings that show off Armstrong’s sophisticated songwriting, like “Dilemma,” about his and his peers’ struggles with addiction, and the stunning power ballads “Goodnight Adeline” and “Father to a Son.”
And of course, there’s plenty of political and social commentary to go around. We’ve been overdue for an election-year album from Green Day, whose last LP, 2020’s Father of All Motherfuckers, largely skirted politics in favor of poppier flare. Here, the band is focused and direct as they attempt to make sense of the chaos around us, raising the banner on the album opener and lead single, “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” and raging on from there.
https://dnyuz.com/2024/01/19/green-days-new-album-will-enrage-elon-musk-and-the-maga-masses/
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