Welcome back to Left of The Dial! For this week’s review, let’s take a look at a familiar band under a new name with Foxboro Hot Tubs’ debut album Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Foxboro Hot Tubs was born during the early writing sessions for Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown in 2007. The songs were conceptualized during a bender of late-night jams with too many bottles of wine (though how many too many is up for debate), which the band then deemed worthy of recording. The results were an album’s worth of 60’s-sounding garage rock tracks, a total departure from 21st Century Breakdown.
Unlike a certain other “side project” band who actively denies all ties with Green Day, Foxboro Hot Tubs makes it blatantly clear that they’re one and the same. Everyone from the band is here, including all three touring members as of 2019. For a quick refresher, the band is made of Billie Joe Armstrong (under the fake name Reverend Strychnine Twitch), Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool, Jason White (under the name Frosco Lee), Jason Freese, and Kevin Preston. Since the lineups for both bands are identical, the name Foxboro Hot Tubs was adopted as a pseudonym for the band for booking secret club shows between bigger shows at stadiums.
I’ve been wanting to review Stop Drop and Roll!!! for a long time, and now seems like a good time to do so. I recently obtained a vinyl copy (which is already tough to come by without coughing up a few hundred bucks) through a special edition reprint, which was pressed on nuclear green vinyl. It’s the gem of my vinyl collection, which is certainly helped with its package design. Designed by Jason Chandler, it apes the sleeves of typical 60’s vinyl records. From the font choices to the vintage photographs, even down to the faux wear & tear, it’s a love letter to the vinyl age and stands firm as my favorite piece of album art.
I’ve waffled on for too long, let’s pop this beauty onto the turntable and see if the music lives up to the aesthetics!
Side A
Side A contains “Stop Drop and Roll,” “Mother Mary,” “Ruby Room,” “Red Tide,” “Broadway,” and “She’s a Saint Not a Celebrity.”
The title track does a great job at building hype for what the record has to offer, starting with the guitar line as the drums slowly come into earshot. Then with Cool’s signature thrashing on the kit, the song comes to life. Even under the influence, the band’s compositions are still top-notch. The lyrics and especially Twitch’s vocals do give away the boozy influences, to the point that I wonder if he was drinking when he was recording. I don’t think I’d have it any other way though, because the delivery stays true to the record’s origins and adds to the crazy garage-rock vibes. From what I can gather, the song’s simply about teenagers doing dumb teenage things: drinking, swearing and letting themselves go. If you’re looking to this record for anything profound or deep, then you’re in the wrong place, my friend. I can excuse this lack of substance though because this is meant to be a fun ‘don’t take me seriously’ kind of record.
The next track is “Mother Mary,” which was a surprise hit on rock radio back when this record dropped, though can we really call it a surprise? The titular woman in the song shares a name with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, though the specific name ‘Mother Mary’ has other implications that probably aren’t as wholesome. The name is commonly used as slang for someone’s virginity, and since the lyrics in this song lean heavily into romance, especially with the opening line “do you want to elope tonight,” it’s safe to assume that this the context the band had in mind, though perhaps there are other definitions out there that I couldn’t find.
“Mother Mary” leans most into Green Day’s classic sound, which would explain its popularity above the other tracks. It follows their typical composition structure, just with the messier sound and less lucid lyrics associated with the Foxboro Hottubs name. As I said earlier, this is a love song, and it’s a super sweet one at that. I get a partners-in-crime kind of impression of the characters’ relationship, kinda like Bonnie and Clyde or Sid and Nancy, and that’s a fun dynamic to play with in fiction. I’d say if you’re having some reservations about checking this album out, start with listening to “Mother Mary” to see if it’s something you might like.
Up next is “Ruby Room.” Something that sticks out to me right away about this song is the drum work. It’s so simple, but the steady tempo gets my foot tapping along every time! The lyrics describe the lifestyle of a serious alcoholic going to his favorite bar on a Friday night, and there’s this interesting duality where the narrator knows this excessive drinking could kill him, but he doesn’t really care. It’s pretty nihilistic, yet the instrumentals are so upbeat that you don’t think about the dark implications. It’s a bit like “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster The People in that way. Regardless, it’s one of my personal favorite tracks on the record, so have fun with it!
“Red Tide” is the next song. If the instrumentals of the previous tracks were starting to get repetitive to you, then this is a good breath of fresh air. The tempo is way slower, and the guitar and bass give me some surf/stoner rock vibes. Even Twitch’s vocals stand out, sounding more relaxed and pairing wonderfully with the atmospheric “ooh”s that cap off each line. Anyone who’s had the “pleasure” of experiencing a menstrual period will catch on right away what the title and lyrics are describing, but if you’re not in the loop about it, ‘red tide’ is a slang term for one’s period, and the lyrics describe the emotional rollercoaster that’s associated with PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome). While this time of the month tends to be unfavorable (at least from my experience personally), there’s a sense of beauty that’s captured in the lyrics. Twitch/Armstrong has a knack for finding poetry and beauty in the ugliest of things in his writing, and that’s something I admire about him.
Up next is “Broadway.” Getting away from the slightly disgusting subject matter of the previous song, we’re returning to the land of nihilism as we focus on a guy drinking and driving cause he doesn’t really care what happens to him. Uplifting, huh? Despite the messed-up theme, the lyrics are fairly repetitive and the instrumentals are a little on the bland side. This is one of those songs that I tend to forget exists, which is way worse to me than a song that I can’t forget because it’s so bad. It feels like filler, so this is probably okay to skip.
Moving on, let’s check out “She’s a Saint Not a Celebrity.” With a title like that, are we sure Fall Out Boy wasn’t involved? Jokes aside, this was the other big hit off the record alongside “Mother Mary,” and I can definitely see why. The guitar line is super creative, and it brings a relentless sense of energy to the track. I also love how out-there the lyrics are. Like “Mother Mary,” it’s a love song, though it plays a lot more with religious imagery to describe the narrator’s relationship with a girl, Marie. Marie is an alternate name for the Virgin Mary, which only encourages more comparisons to the other song. Let me assure you though, these are very different songs in the way they approach the relationship. “Mother Mary” feels sweeter and fluffier, whereas “She’s a Saint Not a Celebrity” has a darker underbelly to it. The strong religious language almost fetishizes Marie, which gives a lot of insight into why the title was chosen. It seems like a work of satire about the way saints are objectified and weaponized by the church. Being agnostic myself, I’m not any kind of expert when it comes to religion, so I’d encourage you to do some of your own analysis on this track and draw your own conclusions. I always enjoy some food for thought, especially as a closer to a record side. With that, it’s time to turn it over and see what’s on the other side.
Side B
Side B contains “Sally,” “Alligator,” “The Pedestrian,” “27th Ave. Shuffle,” “Dark Side of Night,” and “Pieces of Truth.”
“Sally” is the kind of song you’d expect to get from a bender of heavy drinking and jamming, not that that’s particularly a bad thing. I say that because the lyrics are less coherent than on previous tracks, with only vague allusions to the idea of “tak[ing] a risk until it comes out right.” Incoherent lyrics don’t have to take away from the song’s quality, Nirvana’s Incesticide has taught us that. In this case, it manages to work by having some clever composition to do the heavy lifting. The verses ride along on a steady rhythm, but the chorus kicks things up to 11 to keep things interesting. I wouldn’t say it’s a standout gem, but I’d say it’s worth your time to give it a listen.
“Alligator” is another one of those songs I tend to forget is on this record, just because it doesn’t have much to help it stick out from the rest. The lyrics describe a gator-like character that hangs around and gets in the way, which is fairly creative. The issue comes from the redundancy of the guitar line and repetition of the word ‘alligator.’ I could turn this into a fairly deadly drinking game if I told you to take a shot every time you heard the word ‘alligator,’ which you should NOT do under any circumstances. Why don’t we move on instead?
The next track is “The Pedestrian,” which once again sticks closely to the classic Green Day formula. I like the approach that was taken for the writing because it uses a lot of nice wordplay to get the message across of marching to the beat of your own drum. You get lines like “it don’t take a genius to be an idiot,” and “it don’t take a Jesus to save my soul,” which all sound great bouncing off one another. The composition plays subtly into the message as well, by staying steady and unrelenting as the song progresses. It’s just tons of fun, and I highly recommend it!
Up next is “27th Ave. Shuffle,” which takes the “Ruby Room” approach of contrasting upbeat instrumentals with dark lyrical content. This time around, it centers on themes of depression, addiction, and suicide. If you’re sensitive to topics like that, then you should probably skip to the next paragraph. Anyways, despite my love for this song, it also disturbs me a little for how visceral it comes across as. This felt like some kind of early cry for help by Twitch/Armstrong, who’s definitely had his demons to overcome over the course of his life. If you’ve read my review of the Trilogy or Revolution Radio, then you know about Armstrong’s substance abuse issues and how they would come to a head a few years after this album dropped. Unlike “Ruby Room,” which uses some tongue-in-cheek wordplay to keep things light, “27th Ave. Shuffle” lets it all out and doesn’t hold back the pain. It feels almost out of place on this record, but the composition along with Twitch’s vocals obscure that sense of darkness and help it meld better with the rest of the album. If the themes don’t bother you too much, then this is certainly a gem to keep an eye on.
Next up is “Dark Side of Night,” which is a great experiment in noir-style composition. The song sets itself apart right away with its use of a flute and acoustic guitar, which gives it that mysterious atmosphere associated with noir. The lyrics weave a tale of the narrator being stabbed in the chest as the killer escapes into the night. This is one of those tracks that paints a clear image in my head while I listen to it, this one being a hot and rainy alleyway in the dead of night, with the killer being hidden under a trench coat and big hat. I’m quite partial to songs that can conjure up such a strong visual, so definitely give this one a shot.
The final song to end the record off is “Pieces of Truth.” This one is about a one-night stand that left the narrator with a lot of regrets about their partner. Though this could certainly be a fictional take on a relatable topic, I always felt like this had way more pieces of truth than it initially lets on (not sorry for the cruddy pun), like this was based on a real story. Regardless of how true that is, it makes the song more entertaining for me, so I’m sticking to that interpretation. Beyond the lyrical content, the instrumentals are tons of fun! The song goes for a fake-out ending, which erupts into a killer saxophone solo before the song properly concludes. It’s a memorable way to end things!
Overall, Stop Drop and Roll!!! is a fantastic record that drips with personality, despite its flaws. My top three tracks are “Mother Mary,” “Ruby Room,” and “27th Ave. Shuffle.” The bottom two would easily be “Broadway” and “Alligator.”
Rating: 8.5/10
Feature Photo by Becca Fauteux