Green Day - Saviors
Green Day
Saviors
Release Date: January 19th, 2024
Label: Reprise Records
Review by Jared Stossel
“Ever since Bowie died/It hasn’t been the same,” sings Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong on the track “Strange Days Are Here To Stay.” Interestingly, I’ve said the same thing for years: David Bowie died on January 10th, 2016. Ever since then, the world has felt like an absolute shit show, with only glimmers of hope coming to the surface occasionally. Green Day has always been outstanding at this – writing ebullient punk rock songs with a pop edge that feature lyrics highlighting the decline of civilization. On Saviors, their fourteenth studio album, the punk rock trio – comprised of Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool – create a snapshot of modern-day America, much like they’ve done in years past with 2004’s magnum opus American Idiot, 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown, and 2016’s Revolution Radio.
The album opener, “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” is one of the best tracks the Bay Area trio has put out in years, a satirical take on the conservative view of “the greatest country in the world.” Armstrong has always excelled at pairing sugary melodies with tongue-in-cheek commentary (“Don’t want no huddled masses/TikTok and taxes/Under the overpass/Sleeping in broken glass”). The first five songs on the album – except for one – have been released in the weeks leading up to the release of Saviors, and all act as great entry points into the record. “Look Ma No Brains,” “One Eyed Bastard,” and “Dilemma” are masterful entries in Green Day’s catalog, veering from rage-induced songs-about-nothing to personal reflections on dealing with everyday problems. The chorus on “Dilemma” may be one of the best they’ve ever written, with power cords that could cut through glass with lyrics strewn against the backdrop of midlife crises (“I was sober now I’m drunk again/I’m in trouble and in love again/I don’t want to be a dead man walking”). Wedged in the middle of these songs in “Bobby Sox,” a saccharin-sweet entry that pulls influence from early Ramones (“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” comes to mind).
“1981” combines the intensity of American Idiot’s “Letterbomb” with the simplicity of early Green Day tracks from albums like Dookie and Insomniac, whereas the midtempo “Goodnight Adeline” finds Armstrong showcasing some of the best vocal abilities he’s shown throughout his entire career. “Coma City” is spread against the backdrop of a near-apocalyptic world, speaking on the fear and frustration that has permeated the world over the last four years (“Coma city/Mask on your face/Bankrupt the planet/For assholes in space”). “Corvette Summer” feels more like a track that would fit right in on a Cheap Trick or REO Speedwagon record, but it’s extremely catchy and works on an album like Saviors. The band has once again collaborated with Rob Cavallo, who has produced some of the trio’s best work over the last few decades, and it’s evident throughout Saviors’ fifteen tracks that the magic is still here. There’s not a bad song in the bunch.
Two ballad-like tracks are present on Saviors: the lament of long lost love of “Suzie Chapstick” and “Father to a Son”, a love letter to his sons. Sandwiched in between these tracks are the effusive “Strange Days Are Here To Stay” and the satire-laden “Living In The 20’s”, a song that seems to be speaking to the indifference that America has displayed when it comes to mass casualty events (“Another shooting in a supermarket/I spent my money on a bloody, soft target/Playing with matches and I’m lighting Colorado/I got my scratcher, and I’m gonna with the lotto”).
The penultimate title track is a call for hope (“Calling all strangers tonight/Will somebody save us tonight?), and the album finishes with “Fancy Sauce,” an epic album closer in which the band laments that “we all die young someday.” Saviors ranks among some of Green Day’s finest work in recent years, proving that some things truly do get better with age, wisdom, and experience.
