Green Day - Kerplunk Review

Armed with a new drummer and a comprehensible album title, Green Day emerged at the end of 1991 with the album that would bring them the first taste of success - 'Kerplunk'.

The album starts off with '2000 Light Years away', which I see as the first 'proper' Green Day song, as it has all of the features that initially made the band so popular: An obvious and catchy hook, Mike Dirnt's bass at the forefront of the mix, Tre Cool's energetic drumming, A fast-but-not-too-fast pace and lyrics from Billie Joe Armstrong that are as relatable as you can get (As long as you're a teenager.). 'One For The Razorbacks' is the same in all of these aspects but is different enough to avoid a '1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours' style pop-punk mush.

'Welcome to Paradise' is the most popular song from 'Kerplunk', since it was good enough to also be included on Green Day's mainstream breakthrough album 'Dookie' in 1994, and it's easy to understand why. With one of the most memorable opening lines in Green Days discography ("Dear Mother can you hear me whining?") and the catchiest chorus on the disc, it's the best Green Day song up until this point in their career.

'Christie Road' is sadly another example of Green Day not really knowing how to handle a slow song, and while there's nothing wrong with 'Private Ale' it also doesn't really stand out in the context of the whole album. Much more likely to grab your attention for better or for worse is 'Dominated Love Slave', which is usually listed as one of Green Day's worst ever songs. It's a Tre Cool led, spaghetti western sounding novelty track about BDSM, which your tolerance for will rely on how funny you find silly voices. Despite this, it has a surprising amount of re-listenability for such a silly song.

The album gets back on track with 'One Of My Lies', a song with one of the biggest sing-a-long hooks on the album and a great ending, even if the verses are Green Day by-numbers. '80' gives 'Welcome to Paradise a run for the best song of Green Day's first two albums, and similarly the melody of the chorus was deeming catchy enough to appear on 'Dookie' as part the verses of 'When I Come Around'. 

'Android' and 'Who Wrote Holden Caulfield' are both great pop-punk jams with some of the funniest lyrics on the album (discounting 'Dominated Love Slave' obviously) and memorable hooks, but the real treasure lies between them in the form of 'No One Knows', which shows Green Day finally nailing a slower song due to it''s chugging riff and deep-for-1991-Armstrong lyrics. Album closer 'Words I might have Ate' is in many ways a precursor to 94's 'F.O.D' as both show how to end an LP well with a quieter song that builds up. 

Tacked onto the end of every copy of 'Kerplunk' is the 'Sweep Children' EP, which is more raw and breathless than it's parent album. In brief, the title track is a little clunky, I love 'Best thing in town', but don't think it's particularly great, 'Strangeland' is similarly filled with strange vocal flairs and doesn't have a clear structure of hook and the cover of 'My Generation' is unnecessary and throwaway.

Minus the EP, 'Kerplunk' is a really great pop-punk album and with the removal of only a small number of tracks would be almost as good as 'Dookie'. If you're a Green Day fan who hasn't heard this album I strongly recommend you check it out!

8.5/10