Maryland punk group Good Charlotte�s sophomore effort dubbed �The Young and the Hopeless� strikes another chord in keeping the vitality of Punk alive.
I�m not sure if anyone knows the definition of punk but in every description a resonant theme sounds; punk is somehow offensive. We�ll I would then like to give Good Charlotte the best punk band of the world award because every time I listen to their music I feel insulted in some way.
Does the band led by twin brothers Benji and Joel think I�m stupid? On the song Riot Girl Benji describes his ideal girl friend, �My girl�s a hot girl.� Wow I know if you elaborated a little I might not understand what you�re talking about. So please please don�t add any more artist expression. Oh but he does, �I know my baby will do anything for me.� See now these guys have me scared. If he�s got an actual girlfriend than hell must be freezing over.
Their punker-than thou attitude in The Anthem is eloquently shown in lyrics like, I don�t want to be just like you.� Though they do try to tackle more serous issues later in the song, �Go to college a university get a real job that�s what they said to me but I can never live the way they want.� That by far has to be the saddest lyric in the whole album. I actually felt bad for the twins because they aren�t smart enough to get into college.
In The Life Styles of the Rich and Famous they sing about celebrities complaining in Magazines. It�s funny that I�m reading Rolling Stone right this very second and Joel happens to be complaining about a girl he liked in high school that didn�t like him back. That�s actually astonishing to me; a girl didn�t like Joel? Good Charlotte is so punk that they continued the song by saying �I think we should rob them.� (Talking about rich and famous people of course.) Wait aren�t they famous? Well yes they�re in RollingStone magazine and Guitar One. They do a show on MTV, All Things Rock. I can only imagine that all these publicity has secured funds for these guys. See they are hard-core punks they want to steal from rich and famous people who are not quite unlike themselves.
My favorite song on the record has to be The day that I die.� The twins admit in this song that, �The happiest day of my life is the day that I die.� This song actually gave me hope. My mind started to ponder away from the offensive music and into the future. Yes�the day that Good Charlotte dies will be a happy day.