Even before listening to the third instalment of Green Day’s 2012 trilogy, it’s hard not to feel generously disposed towards it. Not only has poor Billie Joe recently had a stint in rehab, but after three quick-fire back-to-basics albums, few could deny their current work ethic is impressive.
There are, of course, others who refuse to join in the enthusiasm. Many accuse the California punks of being middle-aged fraudsters with pantomime songs. But what’s so wrong with 40-year-olds singing teen anthems? Surely, the issue is quality, not age.
Some have suggested, after the the first two instalments of the trilogy, that there's probably only a decent 45 minutes between all three. Not so. ¡Tré! stands entirely on its own.
It starts with “Brutal Love” a bastard cousin to R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts”, followed by a balls-out trio of trashcan-alley romances (“Missing You”, “8th Ave Serenade”, and “Drama Queen”.) The next song, “X Kid”, sounds destined to be used for the title sequence of an indie misfit teen movie.
It’s a little baffling, then, that the band have been posting preview streams online of the album's most lacklustre tracks.“Dirty Rotten Bastards” with its Carmen-meets-drunken-Irish-shanty theme, sounds like Busted doing a Pogues impression. At least it feels seasonal in an alternative way. Their most misplaced sense of pride is in “The Forgotten”, which means the very end of the album descends into schmaltzy pap. But these are blips. Overall, ¡Tré! makes you think that maybe it was their big “rock operas,” not this return to garage-rock, that was a step in the wrong direction. When Green Day sound like The Undertones in the sun, they can surely go on as long as they like.
