Remember 2004, Green Day fans? That was when the Bay Area punk trio refashioned itself into a band that would tackle issues beyond boredom and girls with “American Idiot,” a relentless collection of socially aware songs that would eventually work their way to Broadway.

Now on the verge of releasing the first of three new albums, Green Day continues to distance itself from its role as rock ‘n’ roll chroniclers of our political climate. Today, meet Green Day, the “Angry Birds Friends” edition.

“Angry Birds Friends” is the Facebook offshoot of the popular mobile game, and the edition comes complete with the premiere of a new song, “Troublemaker,” as well as all-new evil pig characters inspired by Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool. It’s perhaps the boldest message yet that fans shouldn’t take the band’s upcoming three albums -- "¡Uno!,” "¡Dos!” and "¡Tré!” -- with complete seriousness.

“We’re all fans of ‘Angry Birds,’ ” Armstrong said in a statement. “It’s such an addictive game that when we first started playing it we couldn’t stop.”


Ten new Green Day-branded levels have been created for “Angry Birds Friends,” and a new single, “Oh Love,” is also featured in the game. Updates to the game will be released this fall.

The single “Oh Love,” first released in July, recalls the mid-tempo jangle of Green Day’s “Warning” period, when the band discarded the snarl in favor of Armstrong’s appreciation of Kinks-inspired songcraft (although other songs unveiled, such as “Kill the DJ,” show that Green Day has been listening to quite a bit of the Clash’s “Sandinista!”).

Green Day, which recently played a surprise show in Los Angeles, will also promote the new works when leader Armstrong appears on singing competition “The Voice” this fall as a mentor on chanteuse Christina Auguilera’s team. "¡Uno!” arrives on Sept. 25, while "¡Dos!” arrives Nov. 13 and "¡Tré!” will round out the trilogy Jan. 15.

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