After two consecutive rock operas, both of which confronted life in the post-9/11 world of modern America through the lens of identifiable, catchy rock music, Green Day are releasing a project which is at once much simpler and much more complex. Rather than a single album, the band are releasing a trilogy, respectively titled ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! The release dates will be staggered — on September 25, we’ll hear ¡Uno! (which contains lead single “Oh Love,” which we have for your listening pleasure below), followed by ¡Dos! on November 13 and ¡Tré! on January 15, 2013.
‘Okay,’ you might say, ‘that’s a potential for a few great singles and dozens of songs worth of filler,’ but I doubt that. First, each album is themed — the first will contain power-pop influences and big choruses, the second garage rock and a rawer ethos, and the third sweeping, epic constructions that will include string arrangements. Second, it’s fucking Green Day. Third, it’s fucking Green Day.
We’ve already heard the power-pop ballad “Oh Love,” one of my favorite songs of the year (though widely dissed by the immature crowd that somehow thought that 21st Century Breakdown wasn’t amazing), as well a live version of the furious ¡Uno! cut “Let Yourself Go.” Now the band have released another song from ¡Uno!, and it wanders into yet another world — the world of dance-punk.
Over an irresistibly danceable beat and some power chords, Billie Joe belts out an ultra-catchy melody: “Someone kill the DJ/ Shoot the fuckin’ DJ/ Hold him underwater till that motherfucker drowns.” You could take is as a critique of DJs à la The Smiths‘ “Panic,” which repeats the title of this Green Day track, but since the song itself possesses a certain disco-ball quality, I believe that Green Day are just having fun.
In other news, does anyone else think that the line “Hold him underwater” line is highly reminiscent of “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” from The Nightmare Before Christmas?
-Jordy Kasko
Stream: Green Day – “Kill the DJ”
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