Fan favorite “Give Me Novacaine” is the closest to the Smiths the band’s ever sounded (good thing? Bad thing? Good, in this case). Like every album on the latter half of this list, it’s not without its high points - “Letterbomb” is perhaps the most literate track on the whole affair, with its dystopian landscape of corrupt clergymen and widespread illness/poverty offering the most coherent idea of what Billie Joe was so angry about in 2004. When BJ’s not romanticizing suicide and drug abuse, he’s giving us three chords and vague, unfocused complaints about some kind of post-9/11 malaise of suburban America rather than Bush’s administration itself, sounding a lot like a middle-schooler that just got banned from the mall. Yes, “Jesus of Suburbia” kicks ass, and yes, “Holiday” is perfect for late-night car-ride singalongs with your friends - but the album as a whole just isn’t good. I’m probably gonna get shit on by mid-2000’s emo purists for ranking this so low.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2023
Categories |