Green Day
Shenanigans

THE REVIEW

In the late '80s, California increasingly resembles London a decade earlier, with political and cultural tensions heightened by the opposition between the reactionary ideas pushed by the Reagan administration and the innate rebellious attitude of Californian youth, historically the most open in America. In this vibrant climate, some of the most important and significant bands of the entire decade, and beyond, are born, such as Operation Ivy, Bad Religion, and NOFX, themselves inspired by the strength of Black Flag, Ramones, and Social Distortion.

As in any more or less underground music scene, here too a group of friends, barely sixteen, who escaped reform school and "survived" an unhappy childhood, form a band, the "Sweet Children" later "Green Day," which after a carousel of drummers finds the ideal line-up with Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals and guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass and backing vocals), and Tré Cool (drums), releasing various EPs and then the LP "Kerplunk!" and achieving sales success, over a hundred thousand copies (in the underground domain equal to a figure at least twenty times higher) later rising to over a million, which made Lookout! Records thrive and secured them a mega deal with Warner Bros. Moving to the major, they released "Dookie," their best work that exploded what will be called the "punk revival scene" propelling into the charts worldwide valid groups (like Rancid) and very, very, very less valid ones like Offspring, Lagwagon, Ataris, Millencolin...

After three more fluctuating albums and an inevitable “greatest hits” (which surprisingly includes no tracks from those released on Lookout!), at a historical moment when commercial operations like Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 emerge, the band is on the verge of implosion, the record label's demands are excruciating, and Billie Joe, virtually the group's sole lyricist, is experiencing a creative block that shows no signs of passing. Thus, the solution presents itself with the release of this anthology of b-sides, covers, and rarities. "Shenanigans" does not represent a new album, for which fans will have to wait until 2004, but is instead a strategic move by the band to relieve the pressure following the poor (500,000 copies...) sales of "Warning!" and therefore, should be judged accordingly.

There are no unforgettable tracks; in fact, forgettable tracks abound, but a few small gems are gifted to us, above all the splendid covers of "Outsider" by the Ramones rendered with great involvement and passion, and "Tired Of Waiting For You" by the Kinks, always admired by Billie Joe, here honored with a surprisingly faithful version to the original. The covers are completed with "I Want To Be On T.V." by Fang, a California hardcore band. Among the texts credited to Mike Dirnt are a non-transcendental "Scumbag," a rather mediocre and predictable punk-rock piece, and a fun "Ha Ha You're Dead", surprisingly catchy and engaging for being a leftover. "Suffocate" offers moments of good speed but lacks the rebellious and spirited soul of other compositions by the Californian band, as do the poorly suited acoustic or electro-acoustic moments of "Rotting" and "On The Wagon." "Don't Wanna Fall In Love, Sick Of Me", and "Do Da Da" add little to the canvas which remains quite gray, not for its ugliness, but for its repetitiveness and lack of originality. A word of praise, instead, goes to "Espionage," a pleasant instrumental that gives an idea of what the soundtracks of James Bond should have been according to Green Day.

After this unenviable interlude and poor sales feedback, "American Idiot" will be released, fortunately better than many other works by the band, but with that sheen of mainstream which, unfortunately, makes us think that the rebellious spirit and artistic integrity of the early years of their career have been lost along the way... Unfortunately...