Listening to the new Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown. A fun listen. But that might be more a criticism than a compliment when it comes to the band behind Kerplunk and Dookie. It’s really quite sanitized, and highly produced, and too pretty/perfect. Very enjoyable, but it seems to have no more lasting impression on my brain than caffeine free diet Coke (which, by the way, tastes like death).
By comparison, have a listen to the upcoming Cobra Starship/Leighton Meester track “Good Girls Go Bad” and stand it next to almost anything on the Green Day album (when the GD record comes out next week). The music from both bands—while different—has that same how-can-I-object? infectious cleanness, that paint-by-numbers hit-maker quality. But hey, both Cobra and Green Day have churned out some enjoyable music—music that I enjoy—so who am I to protest?
