Green Day
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Psst... I’ve got a secret. Green Day isn’t really a punk band. Sure they’ve been known to sport green hair, have permanent sneers and use the same three chords that punk bands do. But Green Day over the course of six albums has always been about more--and less--than the average punk rockers.

While they’ve never really had the rage thing down (it’s always been more like bored suburban disillusionment), they bring to the table a talent for creating pop melodies that many punkers could only aspire to. Some would say that makes them more lightweight than some of those bands, but as their latest, Warning, shows, it can also make them a heck of a lot of fun.

Indeed Green Day’s attempts at political statement and punk profundities can come off as a little silly or less than inspired. On the opening springy title track, singer Billie Joe Armstrong sings "Sanitation/Expiration Date/Question Everything?/Or shut up and be the victim of authority."

The nebulous "authority" also features prominently as a target in "Minority." The band seems to borrow a rhyme scheme and some of the ideology of Bad Religion but the overall effect is more humorous than angry. "I pledge allegiance to the underworld/One nation under dog," Armstrong sings.

That song begins with just a touch of acoustic guitar before jumping into the band’s customary punk roar. The good news for purists out there is that it’s one of the only appearances of an acoustic guitar on the record. Green Day hasn’t attempted to follow up their surprise acoustic hit "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" with an album full of mushy love songs or anything. The closest thing to a ballad here is "Macy’s Day Parade" on which Armstrong turns in a nice vocal, turning down the sneer and sounding surprisingly optimistic. "Because I’m thinking about a brand new hope/The one I’ve never known/’Cause now I know/It’s all I wanted."

Drummer Tre Cool propels "Church On Sunday" with an energy that would make former Husker Du drummer Grant Hart proud. Armstrong brings a melodic sensibility to the bored punk pose and shows once again, the guy can sing. When he shouts "Let’s Go" midway through the song, you’ll be right there with him bopping along.

Mike Dirnt adds some booming bass guitar to "Blood, Sex and Booze" and farfisa organ to "Misery," a series of brief character studies with a repetitive melody. "Hold On" with its harmonica and tambourine isn’t very punk at all. It’s more like infectious garage power pop. And on "Waiting," Armstrong swipes the melody from Petula Clark’s "Downtown."

But Green Day are truly at their best when they keep things simple as on the driving, sweetly melodic "Deadbeat Holiday" or "Castaway," which combines those three punk chords in yet another way.

While it may not hit the heights of Green Day’s best work (Dookie, Nimrod), Warning does show a band continuing to grow on their own terms. Far from stunted by punk, the band continues to be inspired by it and often ends up creating something new and fun in the process. Call it punk rock-lite if you must. This one’s got enough hooks to fill you up.

Check out Green Day's web site at http://greenday.com

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