Warning

I don't know whether the labyrinthine beauty and complexity of contemporary dance music has trained my ear into high expectations, but nowadays rock, pop and punk has to be top class for me to find it remotely interesting. And I'm afraid this latest offering from Green Day – their first album in three years – just doesn't cut the mustard.

Warning is the kind of album that starts to sound better after a couple of listens, though most of its songs are too indistinguishable to become more than background radio stuff. 'Blood, Sex and Booze' reminds me of The Levellers on a rough day – the song structure is there, the loud guitars and drums, but it lacks spark and vitality, and like other tracks on this album seems to follow a tried and tested American pop-rock formula. It'd be different seeing the band perform these songs live – I'm sure I'd enjoy them – but via audio alone it's all rather 'Deadbeat', to borrow a song title from the album.

The title tune is a catchy pop song woven with the interesting sound of air raid sirens; a good version of 'Downtown' shows what the singer can do when he gets the finger out; and 'Minority', though still a bit repetitive, is valuable for the anarchic sentiment that it expresses. In this age of conformity it does the heart good to hear some punk rebelliousness, even when the music isn't that great.