CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT - dookie review

punk stalwarts sign to major label! maximum rock `n' roll readers in a tizzy! With the help of the warner empire, green day is going to reach skate rats and disaffected teens in every hamlet in america. 

t's a bit of a shock to see that green day got on the reprise bandwagon; after all, its earlier records came out on the staunchly independent bay area label lookout! the band isn't avant-anything, but it is extremely good at what it does, which is 1978-style clean-cut punk rock. 

lyrically, green day is the epitome of suburban-boy vision, or lack thereof. a typical lyric goes "i sit around and watch tv, but there's nothing on," while somewhere else singer Tre Cool (seemingly afflicted by a permanent case of sinusitis) snorts "call me pathetic, call me what you will." 

most songs on dookie are guaranteed to whip the most apathetic mosh-pit into a frenzy, or make you drive a little faster if you happen to be in a car. after a while, you realize that most of the songs come from the exact same mold (they all have a drum-bass break two-thirds in), but by the time dookie is over you couldn't care less. completely mindless and completely fun.

elisabeth vincentelli