Music review: Goo Goo Dolls – ‘Boxes’
“It’s hard to be yourself when everyone around is changing,” declares singer John Rzeznik on the opening track of his band’s latest album.
Fortunately, the Goo Goo Dolls manage to stay true to a back-to-basics formula that ultimately produces an infectious collection of pure pop-rock bliss.
On “Over and Over,” Rzeznik repeatedly encourages us to turn it on and turn it up, and I confess that I obediently followed along by playing the Buffalo band’s latest release constantly over the last two weeks.
I’ve been a fan since the days of 1993’s “Superstar Car Wash” when the Goo Goo Dolls played with more of a punk-pop edge.
After recently catching a rerun of “Live from Daryl’s House” with Rzeznik stopping by for a spirited jam, I was more than anxious to hear the band’s new material.
Living up to my high expectations, the 11th studio album from the alt-rockers is a delightful combination of melodic guitar riffs, contagious melodies and insightful lyrics.
With tracks like “Souls in the Machine,” “The Pin” and “Reverse,” the new album delivers some fantastic guitar-driven tunes centered around the polished vocals of Rzeznik, who sounds better than ever.
On “Boxes,” the Goo Goo Dolls seem to have rekindled the charismatic flair first featured on 1995’s breakout album “A Boy Named Goo” that contained the hits “Name” and “Naked,” launching the band atop rock’s mainstream menu and later solidifying success on 1998’s “Dizzy Up the Girl” with songs like “Slide,” Broadway” and the mega-hit “Iris.”
“Flood” highlights a delightful pairing between Rzeznik and Echosmith’s lead vocalist, Sydney Sierota, on a relationship tale that reminds me of the charming collaboration from Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson on 2009’s “Break Up.”
The smooth-singing Rzeznik temporarily steps aside from the microphone to allow bassist Robby Takac to add his gritty vocals to “Free of Me” and “Prayer in My Pocket” for a slight change of pace that harkens back to the band’s early days.
“Boxes” breathes new life into the Goo Goo Dolls with its catchy pop-rock arrangements that are instantly likeable and hard to forget.