Skip to main content

Nobody Likes You

A preview of Marc Spitz's latest book, Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times and Music of Green Day, appeared in Alternative Press a few months ago. I liked what I read, especially the nice long quote from none other than Bryan Jones of Horace Pinker. Just based on these excerpts, I was really looking forward to the book. Besides, this is an official biography where the band members, along with a number of key people, were interviewed directly. So why do I feel like Nobody Likes You is an excerpt from another, much longer, yet-to-released, biography for Green Day?

Nobody Likes You is very well researched. At 190 pages, there are no glaring topics not mentioned. I loved how the whole Gilman Street area mindset/sell-out backlash is discussed with prime quotes from Fat Mike and Jello Biafra. This section was probably the most thorough analysis of what selling out meant to the area and it's well put. However, once the band members' beginnings, the band's formation and Dookie are discussed, the three main albums before American Idiot are merely touched on. As a fan of Nimrod (their best album in my opinion), I wasn't so pleased to see it be made light of as a mere transitional record.

By the time that American Idiot is discussed, I felt like skimming through this part. The deal is, this is where the book unceremoniously ends. American Idiot is a fine album, but its themes and time of release seem more important than the actual songs. Yes, there is some really biting commentary on post-9/11 America in these songs, but do I really want to read multiple pages about how this "matters" to a populist mindset? Nope.

All this said, Nobody Likes You is a very good read. It's written by a fan who cares about the band. It's gripping and it doesn't really slow down until the end. Yet it feels like a lot of the band's life between '95 and '03 is just exposition. I argue that those times are really important and should be more dug into. How did these guys adjust to being fathers and rock stars at the same time? How were the relationships between their friends and family change after the band became famous? How were they grounded even when they had millions in the bank? Why did they start acting like this super-serious rock band shortly after American Idiot came out? What's with all the eyeliner and all-black look? These questions are just the beginning. Here's to hoping for a future 300-400 page biography on the band.

Comments

Hey I got the Killswitch Album on your rec. I like it but some points are a bit too screamo for me. But it would definitely be something i listened to before a track race. I know this isn't a response to the greenday thread but just thought you might see this one sooner.

Jeff W.

Oh i have a new blog as well. Probably not up your ally but it has to do with my work on transportation systems. www.theoverheadwire.com
Anonymous said…
i think i'm going to pick this up...thanks for the review, grubbs!

happy new year...we'll be rocking out at the metro tonight.

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J