Cheeses of Suburbia: Papa John's and "American Idiot"

Zach Hertz (ZH): Coming to you live, it’s the first meeting of the "Cheeses of Suburbia." Because we believe a late-night eatery is only as good as its mozzarella sticks, your illustrious hosts will review mozzarella sticks every week while also reviewing a pop punk album. Our first choice might surprise the dedicated late-night orderer: mozz sticks from Papa John’s. An equally suburban album will accompany the “pizza place next door” vibes of our sticks: Green Day’s "American Idiot" (2004). Brady, any words?

Brady Shea (BS): This was the second album I ever owned — my parents didn’t let me get it, but I went to the mall with my friend and his parents, and they went behind my parents’ backs to get it for me as a birthday present.

I have so much nostalgia about this album. It set the foundation for 2000s pop punk, and people don’t think about the fact that it’s also a rock opera album. I really love that Green Day not only created a coherent story but also mastered the songs that make it.

ZH: Yeah, I feel like this album was everywhere. I didn’t get into music until middle school, but it still managed to make it onto my iPod Nano, much to the pride of my inner angsty teen. Do you have a favorite song?

BS: I’d have to say “Letterbomb” — it's the turning point in the album. Johnny (also known as "The Jesus of Suburbia”) has two friends who are total degenerates. One gets his girlfriend pregnant and the other goes off with Johnny to live in the city, only to enlist in the war because nothing can excite him anymore. Johnny then tries to escape his mundane life through heroin, only to fall into addiction; his drug-induced illusions develop into a physical embodiment named “St. Jimmy.” In “Letterbomb,” this all comes to a head when his girlfriend, “Whatsername,” leaves him because he had chosen the drugs over her. This song is her wake-up call to him.

ZH: I appreciate that even casual listeners like me can pick up on the desperate wake-up call. The album is also a great look at how the George W. Bush presidency and the War in Iraq permeated cultural life and Green Day’s response — who could listen to “Holiday” and not want to hit the streets?

Speaking of being angry, these mozzarella sticks are an American nightmare. Admittedly, their time spent lost under the couch can’t have been kind, but I think I’ve had kickballs that were less rubbery.

BS: Yeah, the mozzarella sticks were really cold. I’m going to go with five out of ten on that one. If they were warm, maybe a seven out of ten.

In “Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the energy and attitude of "Holiday" represent the high of Johnny and his friend first moving to the city. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is slower and the verses are calmer, sort of representing the 'hangover' from “Holiday.” Whereas the Jesus of Suburbia in “Holiday” feels like he’s the king of the hill, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is where he realizes that maybe the city isn’t really all that it’s cut out to be. But yeah, these mozzarella sticks are definitely the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” of tonight.