It’s easy to target Green Day as a sell-out — it comes with the punk territory that got the band its start. In punk culture, mainstream success is a sin, and Green Day has been a sinner ever since its release of _Dookie_ in 1994. Green Day has done nothing but go its own way, not constricting itself solely to its punk roots. So what if a lot of people have taken notice?
That being said, Green Day’s _Uno_, the first of a trilogy planned to be released throughout the next year, is no _Dookie_ or even _American Idiot_, for that matter. In a clear attempt to stick to the punk/pop platform that has brought Green Day to the surface of American popular culture, _Uno_ falls short in living up to those past successes.
The lead single, “Oh Love,” shines like a diamond on an album chock full of fillers. It blends catchy syncopated guitar riffs with perfectly placed and timed vocals, adding a gritty, delightfully sloppy rock ‘n’ roll guitar solo as the icing on the cake. The key to Green Day’s long-term success has always been its ability to mix the rawness and pure abandonment of punk music with the hooks and melodies that make up today’s pop music. “Oh Love” is no exception.
An exception is made, though, with the second single, “Let Yourself Go,” which leans heavily toward its punk roots. “Let Yourself Go” rids itself of the prettiness of pop and divulges into the hell that is pure, unadulterated rock ‘n’ roll. This track brings longtime fans back to the days of “39/Smooth” and “Kerplunk,” flushing the band’s “sell-out” status down the toilet. This is a headbanger from start to finish that never lets up.
“Kill the DJ” and “Troublemaker” are where the album starts to roll downhill. Both are experimentations not warranted on such a hard-rocking set. “Kill the DJ” has mindless lyrics matched with nightclub-esque instrumentation — though the song tries so hard to be catchy, it just comes out desperate and annoying. With “Troublemaker,” Green Day tries to put on its best Sublime makeup, attempting to mix relaxed beats of reggae with rock, but utterly fails.
Though “Uno” does its best to mimic past albums’ success with two lead singles and even the track “Rusty James,” an acoustic jam that sounds like a tribute to the late punk great Johnny Thunders, it unfortunately falls flat with the amount of filler and the unjustifiable experimentations it contains. If you are looking for the next _American Idiot_, stay clear — _Uno_ is one to forget.