Whenever anyone asks me to speak about Green Day, I must give one warning: “I grade Green Day on an unfair curve.”  Green Day has been my favorite band since American Idiot came out.  I’ve drank the Kool-Aid, and I’m predisposed to love anything Green Day related.  “Bang Bang” is no exception, but for once, I don’t feel unjustified.  Billie Joe Armstrong’s hooky songwriting is just as solid here as ever before.  “Daddy’s little psycho/and mommy’s little soldier” is one of his best lyrics in the past seven years.  The bridge of this song is a nice callback to 21st Century Breakdown, and no one can complain about a more straightforward Green Day.

 

James is on Twitter.