Album Review: Good Charlotte – Youth Authority
2 min read
After a few years of hiatus, pop-punk band Good Charlotte, which currently consists of, the Madden brothers, Paul Thomas, Billy Martin and Dean Butterworth, have reformed. And now, coming off their first few singles, including the first of which was the angsty throwback, Makeshift Love, they now have released the 12 track album, Youth Authority. Youth Authority, instead of being an album that is battling to contend with others in the pop-punk genre or even in the general current music industry charts, is in fact, a pure Good Charlotte album. Encompassing what makes Good Charlotte, well, Good Charlotte.
This is very obvious on the tongue-in-cheek track 40 oz. Dream, with lines like, “I had a nightmare, but I wasn’t dreaming/I ran outside to see, it’s not 2003/Turned on the radio, it’s so confusing/ Rappers were singing, and rockers DJ’ing”. It’s really entertaining to hear an artist make a genuine comment on the state of the musical world these days. Because they are right. A lot has changed since Good Charlotte were in their prime, and they’re not afraid to admit that and poke fun at it. Good Charlotte has distilled what they do best and makes it known that they aren’t straying from that as part of a gratuitous experimental game that many artists choose to play these days. It’s almost nostalgic. And who doesn’t love a bit of nostalgia? Good Charlotte is well enough ingrained in the once-a-teen-now-an-adult minds, such as myself, to be able to get away with it. To those who didn’t quite know them during their prime, well, they may have a little more difficulty adjusting to Good Charlottes take on a genre that is at best outdated, and at worst, cliched’.
Beside these musings on a comatose genre, Good Charlotte is able to pull through with the help of punk-pop legend, John Feldmann in their corner. Producing solid tracks that explore such themes such as hope, self-awareness and finding security. The final two tracks are strong closers. War is very much a war-cry, with a build up to a crescendo of gritty screams of the word “WAR!”, alongside the abrasive guitars and drums. But the use of vocals is really what grabs your attention. Moving On then follows in closing, and it sums up how little Good Charlotte feel they need to prove, “We’re not burning out/We’re just moving on/We’re not breaking down/We’re not breaking up/We’re just moving on”. Good Charlotte aren’t here to climb the ladder. As far as this album lets us know, they’ve already made it up the ladder, and now they’re just looking down and reflecting, because, why not?
