It’s been four years since Green Day’s last studio album and now, the pop-punk legends have brazenly returned with just 26 minutes of music. It may be short, but Father of All... sure packs a punch.
The opening titular track is barely recognizable as a Green Day tune. The angst is still there only it has taken a slightly more mature form. Billie Joe sings: “Huh-uh, what’s so funny? We are rivals in the riot inside us.” It’s catchy and there’s even a chance your mum would like it. “Fire, Ready, Aim” follows in the same suit. The guitar riffs are more complex than traditional Green Day power chord anthems and there are some creative rhythms. For a moment, it’s almost like listening to an entirely new band.
“I was a Teenage Teenager” opens with thundering bass and soft vocals. The track unfolds into something far more recognizable as Green Day nostalgia. Billie Joe whines: “I was a teenage teenager, I am an alien visitor / My life’s a mess and school is just for suckers.” It’s the Green Day we have come to know and love, the Green Day that got us through the hardest days of high school and the Green Day that makes us look back at our own teenage years with nostalgia.
Similarly, “Sugar Youth” is packed full of angst and pop-punk tropes. Still, there is no denying that Green Day has evolved. They have reserved a special place on the album for their signature sound, but they have also dared to experiment with genre and offer something new to fans. “Take The Money and Crawl” might even be compared to early Kasabian or The Black Keys. The fact that Green Day is trying something new this late in the band’s career is admirable and it certainly pays off.
Finally, there is something to be praised about the fact the album is just 26-minutes long. Each track is catchy and well-crafted. There is no point in the record where our attention is lost. Rather than packing the album with mediocre tunes to reach a fifty-minute target, Green Day has kept it short, sweet, and delivered banger after banger. After thirty-four years in the pop-punk business, this is a right the band has earned.
4/5
