New York – Since the early nineties, the Madden Brothers have played in the pop punk band Good Charlotte. Their side project, The Madden Brothers, began taking shape in 2011, but it wasn’t until this week that they released Greetings From California (on Capitol). The record is a hodgepodge of radio pop, country and adult contemporary. Fans expecting to buy a new Good Charlotte album may want to think twice.
Joel and Benji Madden went for a dramatically different sound on their debut. The cheekiness of Good Charlotte’s “Boys & Girls” and “Riot Girl” is nowhere to be found on this more “mature” sound. It is obvious that the brothers are going for a more grown-up look and sound with this album. Watching the video for the single, “We Are Done,” it’s hard to believe that these are the same guys who used to wear smudged eyeliner and Slipknot t-shirts.
In a way the dramatic difference in style makes sense. The Madden Brothers are attempting to break away from an image they spent the majority of their careers cultivating. It’s understandable that two guys in their thirties don’t want to write songs like “Anthem” anymore.
It was going to take a dramatic change to break out of an image as solidified as Good Charlotte’s. A soft transition with a similar sound would risk having their new project labeled as Good Charlotte minus a few members. However, even if their aim is to break their mold, to these ears their new sound lacks direction.
The opening track, “Dear Jane,” is a sonic shock to the system. With heavy guitar and drums swapped out for clean vocals and acoustic guitar, the song is a clear and clean break from their previous sound. Joel’s voice is as recognizable as it was when he was in Good Charlotte and he floats up to the high notes with the same ease. Without his voice it would be hard to tell, going off their previous work, that the Maddens wrote the song. The next track, “Brixton,” has the same high notes and harmonies as “Dear Jane,” but executes them with more success. The acoustic riffs are well integrated and prove that the Maddens know how to play more than the Good Charlotte catalogue.
The lead single off the album, “We Are Done,” features layered vocals, whistling and some catchy guitar from Benji. It proves that the Maddens are talented musicians who seem to be trying out every trick that they didn’t get to with Good Charlotte. With each of their releases Good Charlotte moved around in their sound. Their self-titled debut was fairly similar to its follow-up, The Young and the Hopeless. The band’s sound deepened for The Chronicles of Life and Death and they changed dramatically again for the poppy Good Morning Revival. Their last record, Cardiology, moved away from the dance tunes of its predecessor, but didn’t return to their original sound and that’s where Good Charlotte left it. Even with said fluctuation, Good Charlotte still appealed to the same audience with each new release. The same elements came into play with each album and Greetings From California sounds like an exploration away from that familiar ground.
Luckily for Good Charlotte fans, hints of the band can be heard in the new album. The track “Out of My Mind” has just a taste of Good Charlotte. Something about the quick, rhyme-heavy lyrics are reminiscent to the likes of “Anthem” and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” “California Rain” lands even closer to the Good Charlotte sound. Perhaps it’s the tone of Joel’s voice or the slow, low strum of the guitar. In “Love Pretenders,” Joel hits the high notes he did in Good Charlotte’s “I Just Wanna Live,” but with softer results. These tracks give listeners faith in the Maddens’ new direction. They sound less generic and more genuine, like the Madden Brothers actually enjoy their new sound.
However, the majority of Greetings From California feels more like a means to an end, like the record was written to sound different from Good Charlotte and thus serve the purpose of creating a new identity for the Maddens. It’s the equivalent of Miley’s “Can’t Be Tamed” only in reverse. Greetings From California, although it contains fleeting hints of Good Charlotte, washes the brothers of their past selves and creates a new cleaner image in its place. It’s their take-me-seriously record. They are no longer belligerent punks, but respectable adults like the other guys in the big kid bands. Which begs the question (and it’s only fitting to quote Good Charlotte here): “Do you really wanna be like them?”
Zoe Marquedant
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