Tre!

Green Day’s trilogy comes to an end with Tre!, a competent but mostly unmemorable pop record that does little to rescue the Berkley trio from the waters of rock irrelevance.

It must be said that heard on its own, Tre!, like Uno! is an at times fun, if not somewhat disposable batch of 12 songs.

But as a third instalment, Tre!’s cracks appear wider, its flaws more pronounced – the melodies seem stale, the riffs mostly less than exhilarating.

Many of the rockers are uninspired songs you imagine Billie Joe Armstrong could write in his sleep. Tracks like “Missing You” or “99 Revolutions” are no different to or better than the filler on Uno! and Dos!.

The most disappointing thing about Tre! and by extension this entire trilogy, is the lack of a standout, knockout single to make it all worthwhile. The closest is “X-Kid”, another well-executed Clash homage, with warm harmonies and feeling of effortlessness that has sorely eluded the band this time around.

Also notable are “8^th Avenue Serenade” and the Kinks-nodding acoustic strummer “Drama Queen”.  The latter exudes an understated charm with its laid back descending chords and quaint piano lines.

A three album set is ambitious for anyone, let alone a group with more than 30 years of recorded music to their name. If most double albums can be improved by being cut down to one disc, there’s no prizes for guessing what the moral of this story is.

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