Good Charlotte | The Leak | Album Preview

It's been more than a decade since pop punk tandem Joel and Benji Madden's band first hit rock venues and festivals along the East Coast, opening for headliners like blink-182 and Lit. The boys, identical twins from a broken home in a sleepy suburban Maryland town best known for its malls, were inspired to pick up instruments for the first time and start a band after seeing the Beastie Boys on the 1995 Ill Communication tour. In 2000, they finally hit the airwaves with their school-sucks single "Little Things." It was a simple, pissed-off punk-pop anthem about the tribulations of not fitting in or getting the girl, and it sounded, well, pretty much like amateur hour. But, after releasing their first full-length self-titled album, amateur hour ended quickly. The release of The Young And Hopeless in 2002 made them household names and earned them a place in the pop punk chronicles, somewhere right after Green Day and blink-182 but well before Fall Out Boy. Stints on MTV, famous girlfriends, a clothing line, world tours and sold-out shows helped build the Good Charlotte Brand, and as it grew, so did the brothers, trading baggy pants for designer suits, chunky ball-chain necklaces for VVS diamonds and hometown hangs for L.A. haunts. Finally, after three albums that sold more than 4 million copies combined, Good Charlotte is set to release their fourth full-length album, Good Morning Revival, easily their most mature effort yet. Gone are their days of white boy whining. Now, nearing 30, Benji and Joel are facing the end of adultulescence, evident in songs detailing loss and vulnerability after highly publicized breakups in songs like "Break Apart Her Heart," "Victims of Love," and "Where Would We Be Now" -- a piano ballad. They're also facing an inevitable coming of age and sorting through the painful realizations that go along with it; songs like "Misery" and "The River," the first single off the album, detail their frustrations with the dubious nature of Los Angeles living. And finally, they're facing the music in ways most fans and critics wouldn't expect. Several tracks, specifically "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" and "Misery," reflect their willingness to experience with a new synth-driven dance rock sound that could easily be mistaken for The Faint or The Rapture. Pianos? Love ballads? Dance tracks? Is this a whole new Good Charlotte? Yes and no. Good Morning Revival marks the dawn of a new era of Good Charlotte. They haven't gone soft, they haven't slowed down, and they haven't lost their punk rock edge. They're just growing up and gaining a little grace and wisdom along the way.