Andrew Golis

For the second WWM (click here for first), two bands: an oldie that has somehow managed to lift itself out of lameness and an obscure weirdo married couple.

Green Day – American Idiot
No, seriously! I know, there are a million reasons to hate this album:
- Green Day is sooo 5th grade.
- Everything after Dookie (with Nimrod as a possible, but not likely exception) has sucked.
- They “went pop” (like they weren’t before?) when they came out with the “Good Riddance” song.
- They are to blame for Blink 182, Sum 41.
- It’s a political album raving against GWB and being political is so cliche and annoying.
- They’re kind of annoying.
- They keep dressing in those dumb “punk rock” clothes even though they like 35.

And I could go on. Despite all of this, “American Idiot” is a really good rock album. Other than the single “American Idiot,” the politics is more subtle (i.e. not “fuck George Bush! No blood for oil!”) and may at parts (I don’t want to overstate this) have some slice of actual intellectual insight and social critique. Plus, It’s a PUNK ROCK OPERA!

More important than anything, though, is that despite their tendency towards cheese, Green Day can still write some pretty kickass songs. Power chords abound, Billy Joe’s singing still has that snottiness that works, and the drumming is clean and loud. If you like good songs and pop-punk, buy this album.

Mate of State
If you don’t like music that’s a little weird, you’re not going to like this band. My roommate hates it, calls it something like “weird clown music” and protests any time I put it one. However, if you have a taste for poppy melodies, contrasting male/female vocals and quirky organ playing, you will LOVE Mates of State.

Adding to their general weirdness, there are only two members of the band (both sing, guy plays drums while she plays the keyboard), and they’re married. Hence, the name I guess. I own their album Team Boo, which is a really fun quirky album that, despite its mediocre production quality, emanates a kind of buoyant joy that puts a smile on my face.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 16th, 2005 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.