Green Day - "Father of All Motherfuckers" (2020)

Green Day have been rather directionless since American Idiot in 2004. Their records have flip-flopped between pale imitations of that album's style (21st Century Breakdown and Revolution Radio) and a more 'back to basics' form of pop-punk that called back to the group's 90s work (¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!), All of which have felt rather redundant in my opinion. This record does not follow in that tradition, instead taking a left turn into 60s garage punk revival territory, similar to what groups like The Hives, Jet and The Vines were doing in the early 2000s. 

And it just doesn't work. A lot of those groups have gotten stick for their sound over the years, due to it sounding stale and done to death, and it is still exactly the same for this new Green Day record. They don't do anything new with the sound at all, and it is so squeaky-cleanly produced that there is absolutely zero edge to it at all.

This is in contradiction to much of the lyrical content and also the bands promotion of the record, which is all about 'rocking out' and 'not giving a fuck' mentality. It makes everything here feel so fake and plasticy. Yeah let's rock out to this completely edgeless and toothless collection of songs. This is compounded by the cringe-inducing title and cover-art. The albums full title is Father of All Motherfuckers, but I only found this out when I went on its Wikipedia page, as wherever this album is available to stream or buy it will be listed as "Father of All..." with this awful censored cover. It's so transparently false that it's hard to believe a band as experienced as Green Day really believe what they were making was rebellious and 'punk-rock'.

The best tracks here are tolerable, if completely forgettable. The title track serves well enough as music for a car ad. The surf rock vibe of Stab You in the Heart has more energy than a lot of the tracks, as does Take the Money and crawl (which is also the punchiest). However the hooks are not memorable in the slightest, and slip my brain as soon as the tracks are over. The worst moments do start to grate after a few listens. Fire, Ready, Aim is beyond formulaic, and features awful whooping background vocals. I Was a Teenage Teenager is about as awkward as the title suggests. It sounds like a bad imitation of Weezer, with lyrics trying to convey teenage angst. However, Green Day are nearly 50 now, and the terrible hook of "I was a teenage teenager" really does not convey any genuine sense of relatability. Junkies on a High sounds like if Green Day made an Imagine Dragons song (although to it's better than most Imagine Dragons songs), complete with all the stale and played out 2010s pop rock tropes (supposedly 'epic' bass drop as the chorus hits, tacky pitch-shifted backing vocals, ect.).

This album is perfectly tolerable, but there is absolutely nothing inspired or unique about it. It is a crop of shiny pop rock tunes for beer commercials and sporting arenas. The band's awkward lack of self-awareness about how they are promoting it and what it supposedly represents also does it no favours. It's not even 'so bad it's good', since there is nothing interesting about this record.

3/10

Tame Impala - "Tame Impala" (2008)

Since we're exactly 1 month out from Tame Impala's long awaited 4th album, The Slow Rush, I thought I'd go back to the only one of the bands releases I haven't covered yet, their 2008 self-titled debut EP. Here the band sounds like a work in progress, figuring out their sound and their influences more blatantly show.

These tracks are more roughly produced than the band's later work, giving the EP a low-fi, garage rock feel. They also veer consistently towards the band's blues and stoner rock side, making the release likely the groups heaviest. However the rougher production means that they never quite pack the same punch that the heavier tracks on Innerspeaker and Lonerism do. The opener, Desire Be Desire Go, demonstrates this. The song is essentially the same as the version that appears on Innerspeaker, except the rougher production makes the EP version feel less kinetic and driven.

Skeleton Tiger and Half Full Glass Of Wine have an undeniable Led Zeppelin influence, with the later literally sounding like the band's best attempt at a Led Zep cover (Complete with Kevin Parker doing a Robert Plant falsetto), but slowed down by a 1/3. The slowing also shifts the pitch down, giving the track this real sludgy stoner rock vibe. Skeleton Tiger initially sounds more Beatles indebted (with Kevin trying to sound like John Lennon as he so often did in the early days of the band), but then breaks down into a bridge that evokes Whole Lotta Love's quiet guitars and rumbling drums but with more effects. 41 Mosquitoes Flying In Formation is full on stoner rock. Kevin's vocals drone on over this heavy, sludgy groove, transforming into an hypnotic "oh-ah, ah-oh, oh-ah, ah-oh" at points in the track.

The intensity peaks at this point, with the last two tracks mellowing out slightly. Slide Through My Fingers lacks the intense groove of 41 Mosquitoes, but retains the mysteriousness with Arabic sounding guitar licks mixed to sound like they're right off in the distance. The Beatles influence once again raises its head on the closing track, Wander. Parts of this song remind me of what I'd imagine Tomorrow Never Knows would sound like if you replaced the sitars on that track with blaring guitars and drums.

Despite it's obvious influences, this EP is a fun and easy listen. It is obviously weaker when compared to the bands first two LPs, but shows a band in growth with some decent songs. I really wish there was a version of some of these tracks with better production, to really show off how immense they could sound. I wouldn't say the EP is a necessity (it's not like the band are ever going to play any of these songs live anymore), but its a really fun listen for fans waiting for LP number 4.

Top Tracks: Skeleton Tiger, Half Full Glass Of Wine, 41 Mosquitoes Flying In Formation, Slide Through My Fingers

7/10