Ya Heard? Green Day, Iran, and Billy Boy on Poison

Know Your Enemy / Green Day

Billie Jo, Mike and Trey return after elevating their band to near-U2 status with 2005's American Idiot. The first single off their upcoming 21st Century Breakdown is all piss and eyeliner; a three-minute business-as-usual guitar blast of political innuendo not too far removed from American Idiot's title track. At least "American Idiot" felt inspired and flirted with melodic tendencies.

What KYE lacks in melody, it more than makes up for in repetitiveness. The title is sung over and over until you question whether Green Day themselves are the enemy they're preaching about.

I loved you for a long time Green Day, but if this is a sign of what's to come, I'm thinking maybe we're better off as friends.


Buddy / Iran

TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone has another band. Who knew? Iran was actually formed in 2000, before TVOTR, and recently released their third album, Dissolver. Fellow TV dude, guitarist/producer Dave Sitek manned the controls for the album and his musical bond with Malone is evident throughout the record. "Buddy" is a welcome listen for TVOTR fans enamored with Sitek's production aesthete and Malone's soothing timbre.

"Buddy" slinks out of the gate like a late night experiment from a blues bar's house band 20 minutes and a couple of beers after last call. The track then shifts into familiar territory: haunting backing vocals with rapid-fire guitar strumming and feedback dancing on top of the bluesy beat. "Buddy" shuffles along, slowly building steam, before Malone's screamed money shot, "I think you should stay where you are," explodes and then fades just as quickly, leaving the rest of the track and listener in its wake. All that's left is to hit repeat.


On My Way / Billy Boy on Poison

Chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka goes the guitar and this song has lift off. It's a guitar and drums orgy from the get go as booze-soaked vocals up the sleaze factor even more. There isn't any new ground being broken here, but like Jet's first album and selected Buckcherry songs, it's not about thinking out of the box as much as it is blowing it up.

"On My Way" could prove to be prophetic if the rest of BBoP's output has the same throwback-yet-timeless gritty groove that makes this song a scream-along blast and everything I had hoped the new Green Day song would be.