Caught in the Carousel

Green Day

21st Century Breakdown
Reprise

Green Day

Personally or on the world stage, music has the ability to create the soundtrack to a moment in time: during the Great Depression, Bing Crosby asked, "Brother, can you spare a dime?" while Ginger Rogers hopefully suggested, "We're in the money." In the 60's Pete Seeger told us that if we believed in Uncle Sam then we should "Bring 'em home," while in 1970 Neil Young reacted to the Kent State shootings with "Ohio." The pace of life in the modern western world lends itself to punk music's traditionally rapid fire, repetitive delivery. Green Day's 8th offering, 21st Century Breakdown lends itself to the task. Whether it resonates when the band asks, "What's the latest way a man can die screaming hallelujah?" ("The Static Age"), or take seriously the thought that silence is the enemy ("Know Your Enemy"), the members of Green Day have outdone themselves.

Be it personal or political, punk music has often challenged what currently exists. This is evident in the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen," the Clash's Sandinista album or Television's Marquee Moon. Because of punk's D.I.Y aesthetic, there are young bands all over the world channeling their personal frustrations with that great sense of urgency that makes punk what it is. Unfortunately, all of us may never get to enjoy all of these bands, but in the meantime, we all have the opportunity to soak up 21st Century Breakdown.

The euphoria and success over 2004's Grammy winning, 13-million selling, American Idiot, might cause a band to retreat to tried and true comforts and formulas. Green Day could simply have released a 10-song encore full of fast paced, hook, laugh and OI!-driven tracks and followed it with the obligatory tour. Instead, guitarist/singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist, Mike Dirnt and drummer, Tre Cool joined forces with producer Butch Vig to push themselves both lyrically and musically, to craft this 3 Act, 18 song oeuvre. The release is broken into 3 acts: "Hero's and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints," and "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades." All acts offer ballad like reflections along with ferocious three chord assaults and choruses ready for stadium-sized chants.

To a large degree the subject matter of this release is told from the point of view of two recurring characters; the nihilist Christian and idealistic Gloria. Through multi-part songs that question rather than answer subjects of faith, media overload and alienation, the lads have given us a thinking-punk's snapshot of our ever-evolving social and political circumstances. When the needle hits the record the music to the opener, "Song Of The Century" might make you think that the record company accidentally put a Cheap Trick album in the sleeve. Halfway through that song, the band breaks into a jaunty Irish jig. It closes with something that feels like they were channeling Queen's Brian May and Freddie Mercury. "Peacemaker" takes on a Spanish flavor, while "Last of the American Girls" leaves you thinking that the Beach Boys all went out to get Mohawks and anarchy pins to wear on their Hawaiian shirts. Then there are the brilliant - "these (should) go to 11" -rockers: "Do You Know Your Enemy" and "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades."

There are a handful of bands who are instantly identifiable for their sound: U2, (for the guitar work of The Edge), Steve Winwood (for his unmistakable voice) and Joy Division (well, just because they were bass guitar/baritone vocal driven). Early Green Day might be confused with other bands like Stiff Little Fingers, however, there can be no question now that Green Day has developed their own brand of punk-pop. It comes from the eminently tight stop/starts and tempo changes that mark their musical maturity, accompanied by the fist-in-the-air guitar riffs and machine gun drumming—all of which support the lead and backing vocal combinations of three men closing in on 40 years of age who can still speak to any generation of listener. As you embrace it, the lyrics should push you. Let them. Or you could simply grab your favorite tracks, chant along, stomp around publicly or privately, and enjoy the music. Take it as a whole or just in individual parts—but take it nonetheless.

The album opens and closes with two piano driven-chords. The first, "21st Century Breakdown," is offered more slowly—perhaps as a remembrance of sorts. The last, "See the Light," is slightly faster, perhaps hopeful. Maybe these chords represent Christian and Gloria, or you and me, or the answer to your question(s). Whatever the case, there is an argument to be made that 21st Century Breakdown may be the soundtrack for this moment in time.

VIVA!!

5/5 OI's
OI, OI, OI, OI, OI

—Peter Hamm