Dookie - Green Day (1994)

My rommate in college was a big fan of punk and underground music, and I knew Green Day because their pre-breakout album Kerplunk! was in his regular rotation. The last semester we lived together he says to me, “hey you should check out this new Green Day album; it’s awesome.” I thought, “sure, man.”

Flash forward just a few months and I was fully on board with this album, telling my friends that Green Day was gonna be the 90s version of Husker Du (this was a particular group of high school friends who had a shared obsession with Bob Mould and Husker so that meant something in context).

Flash forward 30 years and the comparison to Husker Du is ridiculous. Husker only lasted about 7 years. Green Day has turned out to be more like the 90s version of the Rolling Stones. These guys were not just cashing in on a trend. They had serious ambitions and serious chops, and were here to stay.

There isn’t a lot new on this record. Bay area punk already sounded substantially like this, but Green Day made it crisper, snottier, and more exciting in ways that are still hard for me to articulate. Unlike some of their peers, the punk ethos didn’t keep them from being comfortable as MTV darlings, and the band’s personalities seemed like they were custom built for it.

The songs, while sounding like in-your-face punk, are also pure pop broadsides. You know half a dozen of these tracks no matter what age you are, not because they’re loud and full of attitude but because they’re the kinds of songs that will never not be in style.

My pride prevents me from also tagging this one “classic rock” because shut up. But it’s a classic.