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Picture: Music For The People by The Enemy

Picture: The Roots Recruit TV on the Radio, Public Enemy, Santigold for Philadelphia Picnic

First Listen: Green Day Revive Dramatic Political Punk on “21st Century Breakdown”

Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown won’t land in stores until May, but Rolling Stone scored an early listen to six tracks this afternoon — and confirmed that the trio will kick off a massive world tour of indoor arenas in July. A full in-the-studio report by David Fricke will hit newsstands in our next issue, but here’s a sneak peek at what Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt have been cooking up with legendary producer Butch Vig at the same California studio they recorded the Grammy-winning American Idiot, Warning, Insomniac and Dookie. As previously reported, the 16-track album is broken into three acts — Heroes and Cons, Charlatans and Saints, and Horseshoes and Handgrenades — and Dirnt told AP magazine that the songs “speak to each other the way the songs on [Bruce Springsteen’s] Born to Run speak to each other. I don’t know if you’d call it a ‘concept album,’ but there’s a thread that connects everything.” The songs are defiant, but also defiantly hopeful, referencing the unsettled political climate as well as more personal and generational turmoils. Its blend of claustrophobia and freedom is well illustrated by the album’s cover art, which depicts a tight shot of a young couple kissing against a graffiti-covered wall. The title track quickly kicks into a familiar Green Day three-chord blast, but morphs into multiple movements like some of the more rock-opera-heavy numbers on American Idiot. “My generation is zero/I never made it as a working class hero,” Armstrong sings, making a reference to the John Lennon track the band covered in 2007. After a big drum breakdown, the song winds into a slower “Bohemian Rhapsody” moment. By contrast, “Know Your Enemy” is a straight-ahead rock song with a chanty “oh-way-oh-way” refrain. Opening powerfully like an AC/DC track, Cool drums furiously as Armstrong sings “Silence is the enemy so give me revolution.” “Before the Lobotomy” is one of a handful of Breakdown tracks where Armstrong breaks into an uncharacteri

Published: 2009-02-11
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News

Picture: Green Day’s New Album “21st Century Breakdown” Due in May

Scars on Broadway Show Off “Crazy Energy” at Los Angeles Train Station

On Monday night, singer-guitarist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan of System of a Down gave fans another vivid glimpse of their new band, Scars on Broadway, at a special show at Los Angeles Union Station, a 1930s-era landmark in the band’s hometown. On the eve of today’s release of their self-titled Interscope debut, Scars on Broadway performed a 40-minute set in the monumental north wing of the train station, as fans moshed on a dancefloor of polished marble and clay. It was only the band’s ninth show ever, following a brief promotional tour of Europe and sets at Coachella, KROQ’s Weenie Roast, a benefit in L.A. with Metallica, and its unannounced April debut at the Whisky a-Go-Go. In the band’s trailer before the show, drummer John Dolmayan said, “We’ve got something special. We’ve got a good live vibe. The energy is crazy. We’re playing with three guys that are very hungry, and we’re very hungry.” The show-closing rocker “They Say” was well-known to the crowd after months of local radio airplay, but the set also introduced several contemplative, angry hard rock songs from the new album. The crowd clapped along to the anxious beat of “Chemicals,” and Malakian opened his arms wide during “Universe,” looking up and singing, “Mother, are we flying through the universe? Are we dying in the universe?” After a driving, dreamy “Enemy,” Malakian’s floppy hat and mirrored shades flew off during the headbanging instrumental “Scars on Broadway,” which is not on the new album and can only be heard live (and maybe on YouTube) as the band riffs through some thundering, Sabbath-like gloom. Malakian’s eyes widened as he wailed the high-tension “Whoring Streets,” and one fan held up an Armenian flag of red, blue and orange. He then began an impromptu take on “China Girl” (the David Bowie/Iggy Pop standard), singing and playing alone on guitar and adjusting the lyrics: “I’ll give you a man who wants to fuck the world!” He was soon joined by guitarist Franky Perez doing his

Published: 2008-07-29
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News