The Student News Site of Appalachian State University

The Appalachian

The Student News Site of Appalachian State University

The Appalachian

The Student News Site of Appalachian State University

The Appalachian

Newsletter Signup

Get our news delivered straight to your inbox every week.

* indicates required

Review: Green Day’s “¡Dos!” is inaccessibly experimental

Editor’s note: The following reflects the opinions of the author.

After a re-introduction to the band’s original roots with “¡Uno!,” Green Day’s “¡Dos!,” the second in the anticipated three-part series, is jumbled, confused, and generally inaccessible to listeners.

The album features a lot of experimental songwriting, which is unexpected given the intentions of “¡Uno!” After this long, it’s pretty unimaginable that the band is secretly skilled in something other than what they’ve done their whole career, and all that this album seems to do is verify that claim.

Regardless of new methods, it’s apparent to anyone who listens that this album is Green Day trying really hard to not be Green Day.

The track “F— Time”, full of wannabe classic rock guitar riffs and lyrics riddled with the word “baby”, sounds exactly like the “Foxboro Hottubs,” the band’s alter-ego/side project. To find this sort of song on the album, especially given the pop-punk feel of “¡Uno!” is somewhat disheartening.

Similarly, the song “Makeout Party” is just plain weird and sounds like Green Day trying really hard to be strange in another Foxboro reject. With bluesy bass solos, an aspect that’s very strange for the band, the song sounds almost like a fake rockabilly tune written for karaoke.

Lots of the songs carry that same almost classic sense, and in some cases it works. “Stray Heart” is sweet, crooning 1950’s era boy-band style with the addition of modern bouncy guitar.

Some songs like “Lazy Bones”, which is filled with the mild melodies and Strokes-esque guitar, offer the sort of upbeat angst with no risk in the style that “¡Uno!” foreshadowed. “Lady Cobra” follows this formula but ultimately sounds far too familiar, like the White Stripes on steroids.

By far the strangest aspect of this album, and ultimately where the jumbled nature of the rest of the songs really falls apart, is the track “Nightlife”, the band’s first attempt at a legitimate rap song. The song begins as somewhat “cool”, simple and bassline-heavy, but immediately falls apart as soon as the female rapper, a girl apparently by the name of Lady Cobra, starts.

It’s weird. Like, really weird – it almost sounds like what would happen if the Spice Girls tried to be “hip” and “dark” sometime in the early 2000’s and failed miserably.

The final song on the album “Amy,” is actually great, musical, and simple. It’s completely unlike “old” Green Day in terms of their unique sense of melody and timing, but in a way that doesn’t seem to try too hard and actually works really well on its own.

In the context of the album on the whole, however, the value is unfortunately lost among the other unsuccessful experiments.

Review: Two out of four stars.

Story: LOVEY COOPER, A&E Reporter

Leave a Comment
Donate to The Appalachian
$1201
$5000
Contributed
Our Goal

We hope you appreciate this article! Before you move on, our student staff wanted to ask if you would consider supporting The Appalachian's award-winning journalism. We are celebrating our 90th anniversary of The Appalachian in 2024!

We receive funding from the university, which helps us to compensate our students for the work they do for The Appalachian. However, the bulk of our operational expenses — from printing and website hosting to training and entering our work into competitions — is dependent upon advertising revenue and donations. We cannot exist without the financial and educational support of our fellow departments on campus, our local and regional businesses, and donations of money and time from alumni, parents, subscribers and friends.

Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest, both on campus and within the community. From anywhere in the world, readers can access our paywall-free journalism, through our website, through our email newsletter, and through our social media channels. Our supporters help to keep us editorially independent, user-friendly, and accessible to everyone.

If you can, please consider supporting us with a financial gift from $10. We appreciate your consideration and support of student journalism at Appalachian State University. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible donation, or if you would prefer to make a recurring monthly gift, please give to The Appalachian Student News Fund through the university here: https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1727/cg20/form.aspx?sid=1727&gid=2&pgid=392&cid=1011&dids=418.15&bledit=1&sort=1.

Donate to The Appalachian
$1201
$5000
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

All The Appalachian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *