Foxboro Hot Tubs - "27th Ave. Shuffle" (mp3)

I was intrigued a few years ago when all 3 members of Green Day quietly started a side project, and kept up the charade that that band, The Network, were a completely unrelated band for as long as possible. And this time around with their new alias, Foxboro Hot Tubs, I ended up getting hooked all the way when "Mother Mary" cracked the Modern Rock chart and I wrote a column about it. As a grunge kid in the early 90s, I did think much of the snotty pop-punk invasion led by Green Day when it was happening at the time, but in retrospect now I can admit that Dookie was a pretty awesome record. It helps my opinion of that album that most of what they've done since then, from "Brain Stew" to "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams," has been the worst kind of compressed midtempo rock radio sludge, almost completely devoid of their breakthrough's combination of speed and levity.

The Foxboro Hot Tubs album Stop Drop And Roll!!! may not be anything like Dookie, but it does somewhat recapture the vibe of easily my favorite Green Day single since then, the jangly, vaguely retro "Waiting." It's a perfectly pleasant, unambitious album from a band whose next proper album I dread being another thudding, joyless 'rock opera.' Billie Joe doesn't make much of an effort at disguising his voice, but surprisingly the rhythm section proves themselves versatile enough to be virtually unrecognizable. Mike Dirnt doesn't pop his bass strings with any SoCal punk attitude, and Tre Cool reigns in the rapidfire fills and plays something more era-appropriate for the album's 60s homages. And really, as much as I feel like bands should simply try to incorporate all their ideas into one project instead of trying to slot things into separate baskets, especially when all the members are involved, this is one instance in which I think this totally works. Green Day coming out with this album as their next big aesthetic shift would come off a little ridiculous, but as is, the Foxboro Hot Tubs works perfectly well existing in its own vacuum, with no expectations good or bad.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 at 2:24 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.