So the album Dookie comes out in 1994. And many of us - most of us hear Green Day for the first time.It sounds like nothing on the radio for the past three years and that is something of a relief. The DJ tells me it's got that "punk sound and punk attitude." I'm 18, sure what do I know. "OK It's punk." It's fun, it's good in that simple chord, offbeat, slightly vulgar, rebellious lyrics kind of way; and I immediately imagine what people my age must have thought when the Beastie Boys first came out.
Song after song after song comes out. Song after song kicks ass.
And that 's the problem. After solid albums, over and over, the haters started to come out of the woodwork.
"I never liked Green Day"
"Oh yeah, me neither bro, It's not real punk."
"Oh my God I know, like whatever happened to like the ... Clash, or the, um ... Ramones."
"Word."
"Oh yeah, me neither bro, It's not real punk."
"Oh my God I know, like whatever happened to like the ... Clash, or the, um ... Ramones."
"Word."
Word. There you have it. Going strong for a decade now. Hipsters, music pseudo-intellectuals, "true punk" fans ... have been talking themselves out of liking Green Day. Where is the fun in that? Honestly, I ask you is there a good reason for you not to love the band? Maybe. Here are the arguments.
Accusation: They are not punk.
Answer: Dude, they're more punk than you are. For that matter, so are the Go-Gos, Blondie and Billy Idol. Because if you're clinging to some sort of old school punk rocker status, you'd better be in your mid to late 40s and not a twentysomething who walked into a Hot Topic to round out your wardrobe.
This is a band that was part of the late 80s Berkely punk scene formed in the wake of Bad Religion and included bands like Rancid, Isocracy and the Lookouts. (I choose not to mention the Offspring as it may hurt my argument.)
They cut their chops playing "real" punk. And got a record deal from it. Does that make them sellouts?
Accusation: They are sellouts.
Answer: Well, yes, probably. And selling out isn't punk. It's the opposite. I get that, man. But let's get back to the first answer.
I offer up a couple of lyrics from Billy Joe and the bunch from the Warning album.
"Is the cop or am I the one that's really dangerous?
Sanitation, expiration date, question everything
Or shut up and be a victim of authority"
"I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority'
Cause I want to be the minority"
These are punk lyrics. Plain and simple. The rhyme scheme is Thirdgradian, the message is angry, it's anti-establishment. The song is catchy. The song. Is catchy.
And that's the real problem. Green Day is too damn catchy to be punk. They aren't alienating people with their sound. They are pulling people in who may never have heard a Stooges song.
Poor guys, they've got their punk sensibility and the mainstream success.
Does that make them irrelevant?
Accusation: They are irrelevant.
Answer: It's been 20 years and they're not just as good as before, they're arguably better. Politically, musically relevant. Whether you bought into the whole concept album idea of American Idiot or not, it's hard to argue that the songs don't work on their own.
Green Day creates an involuntary response. The jerky, punky head nod. It's the drums, the guitars that smash each chord with the beat. It's obnoxious in how addicting it is. Keep hating if you like, but try to get all the way through Holiday without moving your head. Besides, they pass the ultimate test.
Can you listen to them in the car? Yes.
That, people, is what relevant is all about.
I picked up their greatest hits a few months ago, and it turns out that's like 21 songs of head bouncing greatness. I never skipped a single track. Am I the only one? It can't be!
It's OK to like them, it really is. And you know you want to. You know you love to sing along to When I Come Around with a little sneer on your face. Crunch out air guitar to Brain Stew, singing along with that clipped "I have a severe sinus cold" Billy Joe Armstrong style, ("on my own, here we go ..." which sounds like "Obayo howae-gow" when he sings it)
You don't even have to call them punk. Just jam out.
It's OK to like Green Day. And that's really it. Because they are still relevant after 15 years of popularity. They aren't Aerosmith, or what passes for Metallica or Van Halen, Journey or the Eagles. They may well be the last great American rock band that still matters.
Punk or not.
