ROLLING STONE - dookie review
purists of the abyss, malcontent sid vicious nostalgics
bitch that green day aren't orthodox punks. all right, just label the
berkeley, calif., trio brilliant punkoids and be done with it. but it's
useful to remember that before mythic brits such as the sex pistols and
the clash spewed distorted guitar and anarchic politics, punk
essentially was the ramones -- that is, basically just the beach boys
ultraloud and pissed off.
employing the jam and the damned on "dookie" in the same way
the rolling stones emulated elmore james, billie joe, mike dirnt and tre
cool of green day render the spirit of (19)76 in crunchy pop-guitar
hooks, trebly bass and madcap tempos. they're convincing mainly because
they've got punk's snotty anti-values down cold: blame, self-pity,
arrogant self-hatred, humor, narcissism, fun.
on rave-ups like "basket case," "welcome to paradise," "having a
blast" and "longview," green day's lyrics score graffiti hits: "i don't know you, but
i think i hate you"; "she screams in silence"; "no
time for motivation/smoking my inspiration." and if for targets
they substitute demonized moms and mall ennui for the jackboot brutality
of the state, they render teen-age wasteland politics with all the more
accurate deadpan wit.
-- paul evans (rs 698/699)
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