Culture Greyhound

By now you’re hearing “Oh Love” on the local rock station – it debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Rock Songs Chart and currently sits at #7 on the Alternative chart. The video for the official single is complete, and rumors are the group is already working on a new video for the next single “Kill the DJ,” which is supposed to drop August 14th. If “Oh Love” was a little too poppy for you, this one leans toward older, punchier Green Day. The footage comes from the band’s Red 7 show last November.

A lot has happened in the land of Green Day since we last spoke. I know, I know. I’ve been slacking. You may have even found another source for all things Green Day! Or maybe you just read my blog because you know me personally and check it from time to time and don’t really care about Green Day. Your kindness knows no bounds. Rest assured, I am here to deliver the most pressing news on the greatest band ever. I will take care of you like a lion takes care of her cub. So here we go!

The cover above is Tre!, the final album in the trilogy, to be released in January. Here’s the trailer!

But wait, there’s more!

Green Day are releasing two documentaries alongside the trilogy! To be directed/produced by the same dudes who brought you Bullet In a Bible, several recent awesome Green Day videos, and that one badass White Stripes concert film. Read more from a more reliable source here!

And finally, “Oh Love,” the first single from Uno!, will be released on Monday. You can listen to it at GreenDay.Com Monday morning and preorder the whole trilogy as well. Here’s the cover:

And here’s the trailer!

So, yeah. That’s a ton of stuff, y’all. Green Day’s back baby! Get psyched!

Nowadays there’s a lot to talk about in Green Day Land, and if you think I’m just gonna keep quiet about it, well….you don’t know me. First of all, I’m never quiet about anything. Secondly, Green Day news makes me giddy like a school girl. So if you read this post aloud, make sure you inflect your voice to the likeness of a screeching hyena at a One Direction concert. Because that’s how I FEEL, man….

So the album cover above is Uno!, to be release September 25th. Here’s the trailer:

Rolling Stone recently interviewed the band, and Billie Joe talked about the new sound and the three albums.

People ask me all the time. Even my son asked me, “Dad, would you ever go back to playing songs like from [1994’s] Dookie and [1992’s] Kerplunk?” I love those records. I love the punk stuff I grew up on. But there are so many bands who make the mistake – “We’re going back, old-school.” Well, that’s all you’re doing. You already did it. So we’re changing the guitar sound. We’re not going with the big Marshall-amp thing. We wanted something punchier, more power pop – somewhere between AC/DC and the early Beatles.

“The first one is power pop. The second is more garage-y, Nuggets-type rock. And the third is supposed to be epic. In the first album, you’re getting in the mood to party. On ¡Dos!, you’re at the party, and on the third album, you’re cleaning up the mess.”

So for you kids that hated the last two over-the-top albums, but maybe thought Foxboro Hot Tubs is okay, it sounds like the new stuff might be more up your alley! Yay! Then we’ll have something to talk about! Then I’ll drag you to a Green Day show in Houston with me!

The first single is called “Oh Love,” which will drop into your eardrums July 16th, the day after Breaking Bad premieres. Listen to a poor-sounding version recorded in the alley behind Red 7 back in November.

After Uno! is, of course, Dos!  That one’s coming November 13th. Here’s the album cover:

And here’s the trailer:

Tre! is the final release in the trilogy, seeing release January 15th, and you can imagine what the album cover will look like, as well as the trailer. Neither have been released, but you can bet when it happens, I’ll be all over that like something that’s typically all over something!

Now just hear me out a second. First let’s look at the obvious immediate assumptions:

-Green Day’s a big 90’s arena rock-type band that probably costs an arm and a leg to book. Along with the Foo Fighters, they’re really the only 90’s band to continue to have sustained success. It’s more ACL’s style than Fun Fun Fun’s, or at least if you look at Fun Fun Fun’s lineup in the past.

-They’re a pretty divisive band, and have been pretty much since 1994. If people aren’t mad at them for having a Broadway musical, or rallying against George W. Bush, they’re mad at them for “destroying punk.” You can bet a big chunk of Fun Fun Fun faithful, including the punk/metal-loving Black stage crowd, will either be indifferent or downright angry they’re booked. An outright Fun Fun Fun backlash? That seems like a bit much, especially if Transmission puts someone across the Shores at the same time that will tame them. Maybe Danzig wants to redeem himself?

-This goes back to the first point, but in a roundabout way: amongst all those DJs, rappers, indie rockers, metalheads, and punk purists….Green Day would stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, headliners usually do anyway, that’s kind of the point, but not to the extent that Green Day would. One look at last year’s headliners (Spoon, Public Enemy, Passion Pit, Slayer, Danzig), and you can surmise that Green Day would be a very odd choice for a burgeoning fest that still caters to more of an underground crowd.

The facts:

-Ticket prices have gone way, way up for the fest, indicating Transmission’s looking to book some bigger bands. Regardless of Green Day’s rep with the Black Stage crowd, you know they will sell tickets, the same way the Foo Fighters or Chili Peppers would for ACL. Guaranteed they would be an Orange Stage headliner, with the naysayers catching somebody like….Motorhead?… and the hipsters meandering to the Blue Stage for….Hot Chip?

-Transmission’s worked with the trio before. Remember that secret show at Red 7 last November? There’s certainly a business relationship already in place, so Transmission’s favorite son (Green Day Pun!), Fun Fun Fun, would be a logical step forward.

-Green Day are releasing a trilogy of new albums this fall/winter. The first one comes out in September, so you can bet they’ll be doing what they love to do: launch a worldwide tour, or, at the very least, hit up some fests.

-In fact, Green Day are already confirmed to headline the Voodoo Music Fest in New Orleans on October 27. The weekend before FFF…and not too far from Austin…

Now, having said all this, everyone knows where my heart is: I’m a huge, enormous, insufferable Green Day fan. I love the musical. I’ve thrown an insane amount of money at them. I have a tattoo on my back proclaiming my love for them. So…..yes…..this post is wishful thinking. That I’m 95% sure won’t happen.   It makes no sense at all now that I think of it.

I mean, come on, GREEN DAY AT FUN FUN FUN? Sounds crazy, right?

Crazier things have happened.

Actually, don’t listen to me. I’m dumb. Refused is coming for sure. Maybe At the Drive In, too.

You’ve heard my .02, now it’s your turn: for those of you who already bought your tickets, if Green Day were announced to be one of the headliners, what would your reaction be?  Would you be stoked to sing along to some old skool Green Day tunes?  Would you be pissed and sell your ticket, feeling betrayed by Fun Fun Fun?  Would you care at all?

Great awesome fantastic news everyone! My favoritest band in the whole universe has announced a new album release! In fact, they’ve announced THREE new album releases! So yeah, basically, I’m freaking out over here. Uno!, Dos!, and Tre! will drop September 25th, November 13th, and January 15th, respectively. The band has stated they are at “the most prolific and creative time” in their careers, and that every new song “has the power and energy that represents Green Day on all emotional levels.” Get more in-depth, fanboy style, via this link.

50. The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts

The third album from the Go! Team is slightly more mature, but only slightly. The cheerleader chants are here, the rollerskating rap staples are alive and well, yes, but leader Ian Parton amps up the instrumentals and girl group numbers. There’s more variation, more challenging diversity, more fun. Overall, a satisfying listen from a group determined to build upon a winning formula.

49. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

The title track describes how one feels upon realizing they are not necessarily as unique as they were raised to believe, but rather discovering what machine in the world they want to be a cog for. It’s an all-too real feeling for most people, particularly Generation Y’ers, and not only are Fleet Foxes tackling it lyrically, they’re doing so musically as well, building upon their glorious, harmonious sound. The results may not give any solid answers, but they are rewarding nonetheless.

48. Green Day – Awesome As Fuck

Green Day’s second official live album predictably gives its share of live versions from their latest album, but the middle third is so satisfyingly punk and old skool you can feel the energy eeking out of your speakers. For anyone who’s never seen this band’s full throttle live show, let this serve as a reminder you need to put Green Day on your bucket list.

47. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – S/T

The Internet can provide a perfect sense of anonymity for those who wish to share art, but are a little camera shy. We’ve seen it many times over the years, and we can chalk up UMO as the latest, a band from Portland we knew very little about for a long time. What their art tells us is that they have incredible, hooky potential for the forseeable future. This is a strong, half-hour long, infectious, lo-fi debut.

46. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

After the conceptual mess that was The Hazards of Love, Colin Meloy has reined it in and gone back to the beginning for this refreshing album. Keeping it short and sweet at 10 tracks in 40 minutes, there’s nothing here to bore. The focus of melody, the natural blending of rock and folk, and the sharpness of Meloy’s voice all blend together for one of the band’s strongest albums in years.

45. Cass McCombs – Wit’s End

Not for the faint of heart, McCombs has outdone himself with despair. If Catacombs was a tribute to loneliness, Wit’s End contains the sounds that inspired the entire concept of loneliness. He has always been one to delve into somber emotions and downtrodden structure, but here McCombs digs the hole further, albeit with his most subtle, subdued, and brilliant songwriting yet.

44. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

I’ve mentioned before this album has many different sounds, but you’re just going to have to listen to understand. Never have I heard someone throw so much at the dartboard and hit the bull’s eye so consistently. An album of this ambition usually is dismissed as directionless, but the one theme tying it all together is the raw, unbridled, and unafraid emotion throughout.

43. I Break Horses – Hearts

This is a disc too many people slept on. Incorporating shoegaze, dream-pop, and dense instrumentation, this new band have created a meticulous, enjoyable, and surprisingly precise debut. The flaws here, of which there are few, give a human quality to the grand soundscape the band has made, which only supports the notion I Break Horses are just getting started.

42. Teams vs. Star Slinger – S/T EP

What happens when you get a producer who specializes in ambient sounds and combine him with a rising star, high hat heavy DJ who just wants to make booties shake? One of the most interesting, fun, and repeatable EPs of the year. And definitely booty shaking. Lots of it. The sound texture and beat structure work great together here, and the chosen samples only amplify the enjoyment.

41. Dominique Young Unique – Glamorous Touch Mixtape

Dominique’s been busy, churning out three mixtapes in a year and half. This one, the strongest of her latest two, finds the Florida-bred female rapper spitting her trademark rapid-fire delivery alongside unusual beats and rock-inspired sounds. If Domination was the strong introduction, Glamorous Touch is proof this girl can rap over almost anything. It’s also proof we should keep an eye out for her in the future.

150. Drake feat. The Weeknd – Crew Love

This is the first of many times for both these artists on the list. Here the Weeknd provides his eerie tortured-party R&B before the beat drops and Drake laments.

149. Cass McCombs – County Line

McCombs brings another signature somber note in his trademark melancholy falsetto. One of my favorites from Wit’s End.

148. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

The first verse of this track more or less describes my life right now – realizing we are not unique snowflakes but small cogs in a machine we don’t know about yet. Simple, yet poignant.

147. The Joy Formidable – Magnifying Glass

From the maniacal laughter to the thumping stomp of that chorus to those wailing guitars, Joy Formidable claim the throne as the loudest new band of 2011.

146. YACHT – Dystopia

A play on an old R-rated cheerleader chant becomes a boogie-worthy ode to the end of the world. In typical Yacht fashion, it makes you wanna dance around the flames.

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Missed the show, still pissed about it. Online ticketing is a joke, people who thought Dookie was cool in high school got in, while the rest of us, the superfans, were left in the cold to deal with scalpers pricing tickets like it was the fucking Super Bowl or something. But Green Day still rocks; here’s some videos to remind you of that fact.

Occupy Red 7? Continental Club? ACL Live? Apparently we’ll know at noon. Check here first.