Stop Drop and Roll!!!
FOXBORO HOT TUBS
(Jingle Town)
By now, the secret's out. Foxboro Hot Tubs is a side project of Green Day — Green Day with three additional members: touring sidekicks Jason White and Jason Freese, and Kevin Preston (formerly of The Skulls). Stop Drop and Roll!!! proves something that has never been a secret — that in the so-called world of pop-punk, Green Day reigns absolutely supreme.
This 33-minute blast of '60s-influenced garage-rock could've been a quickie throwaway — and it is, in spirit — but the Green Day craft, the Green Day rhythmic wallop and, especially, the Green Day knack for hooksmanship renders it something more. It's a keeper. The disc makes no pretense to originality or importance (although there are lyrical references to American Idiot.) The packaging, a simple slipcase, is pure '60s — a mini-mini-mini album jacket, if you will. (The compact disc, of course, looks like a tiny LP.)
Part of the fun here is applying Foxboro songs to specific bands, and even specific singles, from the 1960s. The cleverest of these — and my favorite — is "Red Tide," a loving homage to The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting For You," right down the herky-jerky rhythm. The older cousin of "Alligator" is another Kinks tune, "You Really Got Me." The Who is represented by "She's a Saint Not a Celebrity" ("Summertime Blues") and "27th Ave Shuffle" ("My Generation"). "Sally" is the Hot Tubs' take on The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone."
It must be said that, while these tributes borrow liberally from the feel and attitude (and chords) of classics from more than four decades ago, they very much stand up as their own songs. 4 stars —Eric Snider
Hook Me Up
THE VERONICAS
(Sire)
On their sophomore effort, Aussie identical twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso dial up the '80s synth sound for a dozen undeniably catchy tracks that raise the teen-pop bar higher than it ought to be. Album opener "Untouched" — with its staccato strings and vocals, fuzzed-out guitar and canned beats — hits the dance-floor running, while "This Love" lifts its last-minute electro-hook from A-ha's "Take on Me." Lest the Duff-Spears-Cyrus contingent get the wrong idea, the siblings are far from grown — this is nu-wave dance-pop for a new generation, super-slickly produced and with enough authentic retro trappings to endear itself to the old folks. 3 stars —Amanda Schurr
U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years (1962-1965)
THE BEACH BOYS
(Capitol/EMI)
Summer's here and the time is right for another Beach Boys best-of. Granted, there are already quite a few to choose from, but this one's, well, special. As its title suggests, U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years (1962-1965) remains focused on the band's early, innocent times — the period when sonic architect/vocalist Brian Wilson still toured with his brothers and cousin and had yet to drop into the drug haze that would help produce the masterpiece Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations" — and then nearly destroy him. The box covers'62-'65 with a fanboy zeal typically reserved for bootlegs. The collection features 16 CDs. Each one includes an original single's A and B-sides, plus outtakes, alternate and live versions in replicas of the vinyl's original packaging. To sweeten the deal, the 16 individual Digipaks come in a surfboard-style box (replete with wood inlay) that includes a 48-page hardbound booklet. All 66 tracks fit on two CDs, so the list price of $132.98 (at amazon.com) might irk some, and it definitely makes this an item for serious collectors only — or people in need of a killer Father's Day present to make up for totally blanking on June 15. 4.5 stars —Wade Tatangelo
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2008.