Released in conjunction with the limited editions and rarities of 2014's Record Store Day proceedings,
Demolicious collects 18 demos recorded around the same time as
Green Day's 2012
¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! album trilogy. By the time of those albums,
Green Day had come a long way from their scrappy roots at all-ages clubs like Gilman Street, and the
Jam-inspired/spirit of 1977 mod punk tunes of early albums like
39/Smooth and
Kerplunk! were 20 years old or more. The recording quality of many of these "demos" rivals the production on proper albums from many indie acts, and even sounds fuller at times than the low-budget early records of
Green Day themselves. That said, the versions presented here are far rawer and more exciting than the fully produced songs that made it onto the albums. Highlights include previously unreleased track "State of Shock" and an acoustic version of "Stay the Night" from
¡Uno! Though more stripped-down and loose than usual album fare, the tunes on
Demolicious end up feeling more direct and more fun, many songs ending with the sound of the bandmembers lightheartedly joking, complimenting each other, and sounding generally like they're having a blast rocking out their new tunes, warts and all. ~ Fred Thomas