Green Day Gets Its Revolution Started With a Bang

Unicorns will actually fly before Green Day mellows out. I'm seldom a man of few words but the only one needed to describe the pop punk trio's new salvo on our senses is "explosion". What meth lab did this threesome knock over to whip up a batch of no surrender full steam ahead like "Bang Bang", a track culled from what's sure to be this Halloween season's early treat, "Revolution Radio." Green Day invented sixth gear all of a sudden and are not shy about employing it to the fullest degree. Vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong hasn't lost a trace of the angry young man we glimpsed during stellar tunes like "Holiday", "Basket Case" and "American Idiot". Tre Cool blazes through the drum kit as if The Grim Reaper was hot on his heels and so a memorable parting shot sounded like a necessity given the dire circumstances. Mike Dirnt's bass proves equal to the task in front of the band as he summons up the appropriate thunder to make "Bang Bang" sound like the latest no questions asked winner in their now legendary catalog. We can drop any concerns over whether or not this outing satisfies the accessibility factor. The grooves simmer like boiling vegetable soup, the speed limit has been tossed out the window right alongside the rule book. The sound has urgency in its hip pocket and wants you to know that chapter and verse. Billie wouldn't mind being remembered as a celebrity martyr. Not that the entertainment industry has ever been in short supply of those. Death or head, eh? That had better be some prime pussy then. "Shoot me up to entertain" appears to be an obligatory reference to recreational drugs being a necessary part of the whole creative process. Works fine for some, tragically for others. I can't believe how "Bang Bang" eclipses any speed race Green Day has put us through in the past. The bridge injects a fatal shot of what makes Green Day one of the most electric outfits of any size working the beat. Can't be complimentary enough about the rampant creativity ambling through the video. Again, just another day at the office for this bunch. It's a shade higher up on the animation food chain than Green Day usually heads for but, if you're Green Day, you get a pass I suppose. I can't even pin down one chord that makes "Bang Bang" light up so flawlessly. Let's call it a four way tie then. There are certain bands that, when you see their names on a record release schedule, you go nuts in celebration. Green Day falls into that category for their die-hards. "Bang Bang" aims, fires, and connects in so many ways. Here's an autopsy report you'll want to pry into.