Father Of All…＜Red & White Vinyl/限定盤＞

Following a chaotic sprawl of messy concept albums in 2012, Green Day returned to form in 2016 with the serviceable Revolution Radio. Hearing the band get back to their three-chord punk roots was refreshing, if the songs sometimes leaned generic. With their 13th studio album, Father of All..., the trio take an aggressive about-face into high-energy glam punk with the most danceable songs theyve produced in their 30-plus-year run. Kicking off with the stomping title track (both the song and album also known as Father of All Motherfuckers in their uncensored form), Green Day inject a plethora of unfamiliar elements into their sound. Falsetto vocals, handclaps, and a chorus full of grimy hooks land the song somewhere between a speedy reworking of the two-chord riff from Jimi Hendrixs Fire and the most club-ready bands of the early-2000s rock revival. Oh Yeah calls on the chunky beat and snotty chorus of the Gary Glitter-penned Joan Jett hit Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah), amping up the songs already glammy swagger. This style continues on the shuffling Stab You in the Heart, the Clash-modeled Graffitia, and the bouncy dance-pop of Meet Me on the Roof. For all the power balladry, rock opera dabbling, and other sidebars of their long career, much of Father of All... is new territory for the group. Even moments that draw closer to past material like the slow-moving angst of Junkies on a High are enhanced by production experiments with vocal samples, piano parts, and electronic touches. Reveling in a sense of abandon, the album is a different kind of fun than were used to from Green Day. Its also their most streamlined album to date, with ten songs clocking in at an economic 26 minutes and 16 seconds. Light years away from their slap-happy pop-punk beginnings, Green Day are watching the world burn from an air-conditioned dance floor on Father of All.... While the album doesnt deliver their most memorable songs, its wild glam experimentation and attitude-heavy performances show a band still seeking new thrills even decades in. ~ Fred Thomas

前作『Revolution Radio』から3年4か月ぶりとなった13枚目のオリジナル作は、全10曲入りでトータル26分で駆け抜けるコンパクトな内容だ。スルッと聴ける収録タイムながら、一曲一曲に込められた熱量とパワーは圧倒的だ。判で押したようなパンクをなぞるのではなく、その源泉とも言えるロックンロール、モータウン、ガレージ・ロック、グラム・ロック路線へと回帰。しかしながら、どの曲も懐古とは無縁のフレッシュな煌めきを放ち、バンドの面目躍如たるグリーン・デイ節がビッシリ敷き詰められている。郷愁漂うメロディーはポップに弾け、ビートが強調されたサウンドには原始の衝動が迸り、シンプルに歌って踊って暴れ出したくなる楽曲ばかりなのだ。
bounce (C)荒金良介