GREEN DAY: “Dookie” (Reprise)

“I’m not growing up/I’m just burning out”. Brain-damaged Californian loonies Green Day turned to rock’n’roll since society offered them no hope of a more fulfilling alternative, and in the process they’ve put their finger on the pulse of the Wasted Generation, making perhaps the ultimate juvenile delinquent LP of all time – a brilliant, breathless, hedonistic mediation on the utter pointlessness of modern life, delivered over a background of gloriously tuneful three-chord punk/pop tunes the Ramones would have died for. In fact, the band’s influence is splattered all over Green Day’s three-minute workouts, from their semi-metallized sonic assault to their maniacally goofy cartoon humour.

The opening track ‘Burnout’ should become an anthem for the Nineties’ tragic youth: “I declare I don’t care no more/I’m burning up and out and growing BORED/In my smoked out BORING room.” This is absolutely tailormade for the millions of teenage stoners who watch MTV all day in a haze, make crude pipes out of Coca-Cola cans and think Beavis and Butthead are the funniest people in the Universe. ‘Longview’ contains more references to dope-smoking than a Bob Marley box-set: “Sit around and watch the tube but nothing’s on/Change the channels for an hour or two/Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit/I’m sick of all the same old shit . . . I got no motivation/Where is my motivation/No time for motivation/Smoking my inspiration.”