Green Day
Kerplunk!

THE REVIEW

Just a year after their debut album, the Californian trio led by the twenty-year-old guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong returns to the spotlight with a second album with a rather enigmatic title. “Kerplunk” has no actual meaning in English, and many fans have rightly wondered what this mysterious word could signify.

The mystery is revealed by the band's frontman himself, who in an interview declares that he was inspired by the onomatopoeic sound we all commonly produce when going to the toilet.

It is a rather pleasant album, with catchy yet energetic and lively melodies. Opening the lineup of no less than 16 songs is the sparkling “2,000 Light Years Away,” which maintains a certain sweetness in the lyrics while capturing the listener with a lively rhythm. Track number 3, “Welcome to Paradise,” is the first version of the song that will be republished in the next album, “Dookie,” becoming the group's first single. “Christie Road” is inspired by the place Billie Joe and company frequented as teenagers and is associated with the natural desire to spend a little time alone with oneself.
The sixth track, "Dominated Love Slave," can serve as the calling card of the new drummer Tré Cool, the song's author: a fun and ironic country-folk style piece sung by the group's new member; “80” is another sweet song that Armstrong dedicates to his wife Adrienne (whose nickname resembles the pronunciation of the number in English).

A very pleasant track is “Who Wrote Holden Caulfield,” which talks about a character from a Salinger book much loved by the guitarist and in which he identifies himself. The album closes with the cover of “My Generation” by The Who, which truly has nothing to envy of the original and maintains its essence without overly daring transformations.

Overall, it is an excellent album: the tracks flow without boring, delivering pleasant moments every time.