Green Day: “21st Century Breakdown” The piano-heavy first 15-seconds of “21st Century Breakdown” are enough to make you wonder whether Green Day’s upcoming album might find Billie Joe Armstrong indulging his inner Meatloaf. But when the big guitars hit, it’s clear that the band’s current arena-rock ideal isn’t Bat Out of Hell, but Born to Run. “My generation is zero, I never made it as a working class hero,” sings Billie Joe Armstrong, attempting to build a bridge between 924 Gilman St. and The Stone Pony.
In Flagranti: “Brash and Vulgar” A new piece of X-rated synthesizer-disco from Brooklyn’s In Flagranti. It’s all implied filth, of course. There’s really not a whole lot that could be offensive about a bunch of sequenced machines. But like The Rolling Stone’s “Brown Sugar” or Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop”—and really, all the really good sexy music—it just sounds like it’s dirty.