Green Day's American Idiot was everything a career-defining album should be: challenging, epic, socially conscious, best-selling, award-winning, hit-generating, etc. How does a once small-time punk band follow that up? How do you avoid the inevitable "not as good as your last album" reviews?While most artists would probably try to do it again and likely fail, Green Day have taken a different take, reinventing themselves--for now--as a different band, the Foxboro Hot Tubs. American Idiot may have been about the war, 9/11, and Jesus, but Stop Drop and Roll is all about having a good jam session, and the alter ego is a great excuse to make a fun album by side-stepping those next-album expectations.
The album clocks in at a lean 33 minutes spread over 12 minutes--so we're talking short bursts of high-energy old school rock. In that regard, it's not too dissimilar to indie bands who've been reaching back to the '60s and '70s for inspiration of late. "Stop Drop and Roll" sets the scene immediately, letting those guitars take center stage. "Mother Mary" and "Ruby Room" keep up the energy, adding more melody.
"Red Tide" is comparatively slower, a little break. "Broadway" is the first track where Billie Jo Armstrong sounds like, well, himself. "The Pedestrian" is rather Green Day-ish too. "She's a Saint Not a Celebrity" adds a little piano to the mix, although you can barely hear under the guitars--this is a guitar rock exercise after all. "Alligator" is particularly fun and has a familiar sound. I also like "Dark Side of the Night," one of the slower songs, that adds a little flute to the mix.
None of this is very substantive, but that's the point. It's just short, enjoyable bursts of '60s-flavored rock. From Green Day...I mean Foxboro Hot Tubs.
Best: Mother Mary, Alligator, Broadway, Dark Side of the Night, The Pedestrian, Ruby Room
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