Father of All Motherfuckers, Green Day

It’s Manic Monday! Wherein I listen to a rocker, a punker, or just a general banger. 

Father of All Motherfuckers, Green Day, 2020, :26

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

I’ve been a huge, huge fan of Green Day since they appeared on MTV, jumping up and down and tearing up their couch like total morons in the "Longview" video. I went out and bought that album, and everything since, and the stuff that came before, and loved practically everything. A brilliant band, absolutely brilliant, playing what they want, saying what they want, and parlaying an obsessive drive to entertain into massive success. But… I just wasn't enthralled by the singles from this album that I heard when they came out. And indeed, they're representative of the whole. It's a little glossy, a little too poppy, for my taste. Slick, pop-perfect production but not much in the way of muscle or snarl. Lots of "yeah whoa"s and "oh oh oh-oh"s and "la la"s in the choruses. "Meet Me on the Roof" sounds like if someone told Prince about pop-punk and he tried to make a song in that genre without hearing any examples. This is Green Day lite, watered down. I'm not angry, Billie Joe, just disappointed. Favorite track: the Beatles-inspired “Stab You in the Heart."

Soulforce Revolution, 7 Seconds

It’s Manic Monday! Wherein I listen to a rocker, a punker, or just a general banger.

Soulforce Revolution, 7 Seconds, 1989, :33

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I've been a fan of 7 Seconds for some years, but only through hearing a song here and there.  Never listened to a whole album through.  I think the strength of this band is in its short, fast, positive, defiant statements.  At just over a half hour, this album feels long by the end.  However, the music on this album, a manic jangle-pop-punk with elements of surf, is more melodic than earlier 7 Seconds stuff.  Indeed, some of this music would not be called "punk" if you were expecting a typical jangle-pop '90s band like Guadalcanal Diary or the Rembrandts.  I was torn on rating this album.  I suppose it's three stars if you're expecting a musical punch in the face, but four stars if you're not.  Favorite tracks: "Satyagraha," "Tickets To a Better Place."

Milo Goes To College, Descendents

It’s Manic Monday! Wherein I listen to a rocker, a punker, or just a general banger. 

Milo Goes To College, Descendents, 1982, :22

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

I've heard a few Descendents songs here and there but never got into them, although all my punk friends in college thought they were the best things since pressed wax.  So I tried this, their first full album and one of the most influential albums of the hardcore California punk sound.  It's just not for me.  I wouldn't call this bad necessarily, but a little too raw for my taste.  The lads' enthusiasm is certainly to be commended, but their straightforward, juvenile, unsubtle lyrics and the lack of a nice crunchy punk riff or shout-along chorus make me lose interest.  Favorite track: "Suburban Home" is Ramones-like minimalism; "Bikeage" is pretty catchy.

More Noise and Other Disturbances, Mighty Mighty Bosstones / Where’d You Go, Mighty Mighty Bosstones

It’s Manic Monday! Wherein I listen to a rocker, a punker, or just a general banger.

More Noise and Other Disturbances, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 1992, :30 

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Who doesn't love ska?  Not me!  This is the Bosstones' second album.  I've loved these guys a long time.  If you've heard anything by them, you've more or less heard them all.  Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you enjoy.  Gravelly voice, loud horns, tongue-twisting, mildly clever lyrics.  Favorite tracks: "Awfully Quiet," "What's At Stake."

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Where'd You Go, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 1991, :13

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

This EP — their second release — is a lot heavier than their later stuff. A riotous cover of "Sweet Emotion" basically renders it unrecognizable (but not better); "Enter Sandman," the best track, is much more straightforward.

10,000 Shots, Real McKenzies

It’s Manic Monday! Wherein I listen to a rocker, a punker, or just a general banger.

10,000 Shots, Real McKenzies, 2005, :30

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I'm a long time fan of these guys.  Loud guitars and caterwauling bagpipes and Paul McKenzie's drunken guttural vocals.  Mostly songs about drinking and touring ("Pour decisions, a punk musician just ain't as cute at 53 / I have forsaken money makin' / Yeah, you still wish you were me"), plus traditional folk songs all revved up. If you don’t like loud guitar and caterwauling bagpipes and gruff vocals, don't worry.  You can listen to, uh, one song; the final track, "the Catalpa," is a traditional Irish song to the tune of "The Boys of Kilmichael," and sung here in a straightforward, pleasant acoustic style. So, why on earth didn’t they put the pretty funny "Bugger Off," a foul-mouthed love/hate valediction to their audience, at the end of the album?  Favorite tracks: "Smokin' Bowl," "Farewell to Nova Scotia," "Pour Decisions."