Album Review // GREEN DAY ‘Father Of All…’
Green Day defy everyone’s expectations with Father Of All Motherfuckers.
No, Father Of All Motherfuckers (or Father Of All… for the ones who prefer the censored version) is not another Trump shame inspired album, but rather the band’s unsurprisingly bold and raw take on ‘the shit that you see every day’ as frontman and writer Billie Joe Armstrong says, admitting that Kendrick Lamar’s ‘HUMBLE’ was his lyrical inspiration while recording their 13th LP as he wanted their ‘attitude to be on the level as these young hip hop acts.’
Sticking to their 90s pop punk explosive sonics that we’ve been used to for the last thirty years, but with a new ‘dirty and messy’ sound, comes the Motown, soul, 50s era influenced project, kicking off with the album’s self title song and first single: Father of All… A frenzied energy anthem with loads of falsetto vocals, handclaps and glitzy guitar notes which smoothly follows to what feels like the second half of the same song Fire, Ready, Aim with its almost identical key and pace, marking the duo as the perfect ‘glam rock’ intro.
The flow continues with second playful single Oh Yeah! which marks the first time the Oakland trio sampled another artists’ song, but it comes with a good cause as they explained on their social media: “We think Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is a total badass so we sampled one of her songs off ‘Bad Reputation’. Turns out one of the writers on that song is a complete asshole so we’re donating our royalties from Oh Yeah! to International Justice Mission and RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network).”
Meet Me On The Roof comes straight out of a 1950s rom com soundtrack with a glam rock danceability and sleekness that’s very appealing. The track is followed by I Was A Teenage Teenager, and if you are wondering where you’ve heard that guitar intro before, then you are definitely thinking of The Stone Roses’ ‘I Wanna Be Adored’. “I was a teenage teenager full of piss and vinegar… My life’s a mess and school is just for suckers”, Billie sings, and he described the retro rock ‘n’ roll tune as “the life AND death of the party”.
Highlights of the album? Stab You In The Heart will instantly remind you of ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’ by The Swinging Blue Jeans (or you’ve might have heard it from The Beatles version) with that classic glam rock ‘n’ roll groove, and screaming mass of girls in the background, and then there’s energetic and possessive Sugar Youth with its fast paced chorus which will definitely get you up your seat and start moving – will it be to rhythmically head bang or to dance, we’ll leave that up to you. And without a sign of any stripped back acoustic songs yet, comes the end to yet another statement album with closing track Graffitia, with an excessive use of clapping and organ notes that could easily resemble to an 80s Bruce Springsteen tune.
Green Day once again remind us that we should never expect them to sound how they should and although it’s not going to satisfy everyone’s ears, the album is not meant to be taken seriously, but rather than three band mates going back to the tunes they purely enjoy making and exploring. Father Of All Motherfuckers comes to you with ten sugary catchy tunes which will take less than half hour of your time to jam to and will be a great addition to their upcoming stadium tour setlist. “Are we the last forgotten?”, Billie asks their listeners on Graffitia and the answer is an instant, definite NO.