Green Day: ‘Father of All…’ — the perfect end-all to Warner Bros.
At this point, Green Day doesn’t give a fuck. And they’re not going to anytime soon. So here they are to tell you about it on Father Of All Motherfuckers — the band’s thirteenth studio LP. It is their shortest album since 1990’s debut, 39/Smooth, which ran at 31 minutes, 13 seconds. This one is shorter with a running time of 26 minutes, 16 seconds. That was before the band ran of into the sunset of dad-rock anthems and punk rock operas. Allegedly, Father Of All… is Green Day’s final album with Reprise/Warner since debuting a relationship with them while releasing Dookie in 1994.
From the shitty American Idiot-esque album cover to the unbelievably seemingly-rushed quality of their lead single, fans are questioning the legitimacy of the band’s 2020 album. And it would seem that only Green Day would throw garbage into the void just to spite their label after a quick fallout, despite having a 24-year relationship together. Since frontman Billie Joe Armstrong gave the news on Apple’s Beats1 telling fans that this is the final album on a label, fans have speculated a falling-out. Fans are also hinting at even more Green Day music later this year on an independent level, whether it’s new singles or EPs, or even another full-length, that’s all under speculation. Regardless, the band is ready to return this year and it all starts with this new album.
Though the lead entry to Father Of All… is an average “Green Day” leading single — a political outcry against our Republican president Donald Trump, I would compare the rest of the album to what “Kill the DJ” might sound like if it was an album. And it’s actually not as bad as it seems. Green Day has been spiting punk for years now and it seems they’ve created a very cohesive album.
On “Oh Yeah,” Armstrong sings in harmonies with backup vocalist/bassist Mike Dirnt. It’s a chorus that, at face value, is essentially meaningless, but these verses are some of the best the band has written in years. “Meet Me On the Roof” actually sounds like a SWMRS single — which is rad since Armstrong’s son Joey is the band’s drummer. There’s a funky riff like that on a lot of these tracks. “Stab You In the Heart” is an ’80s-punk anthem reminscing of classic Elvis or Joan Jett jukebox tracks.
The album’s most criminally-underrated track might as well be “Junkies On a High” which grazes through a daunting chord progression as Armstrong claims, “I’ve got my own conspiracies… oh yeah” and “watch the world burn.” It’s the riskiest song on an already risky LP.
Throughout, Green Day has proven they’ve still got it. But do they really need to? They’ve spent a career attacking the very notion that punk rock should be fast, short, and to the point. But this time, here they are with an album nearly as short as an EP. It’s bolder and riskier than its predecessor, Revolution Radio. And it absolutely rules.
