Hey Young World,

This is the January 2024 edition of 1520’s Record Report, our series of monthly articles in which we recommend things we’re currently into.

We’ve picked the name Record Report in honor of Hip Hop magazine The Source, which’s album review section went under that name and, when we were growing up, told us what was worth copping and what wasn’t. In our own small way, we hope to do the same.

2004 ‘til Infinity

This year, every edition of 1520’s Record Report will include a recommendation of an album, a movie or a video game that came out 20 years ago, in 2004, a year that is very close to our hearts and whose pop culture fundamentally shaped who we (and many other Millennials) are today.

Green Day - Saviors (album)

After a run of mostly lackluster or outright bad albums, we thought Green Day - icons of 90s and 00s youth culture - didn’t have anything left in the tank. We were wrong. Saviors might not be an American Idiot-like rejuvenation, but it is a really fun punk record. We’d welcome many more like it from Green Day in the future.

Locke & Key (TV Series)

We’ve recently started watching the Netflix series Locke & Key, about a family that uses magical keys to fight demons in a small town in Massachusetts. If you enjoyed the massively popular Stranger Things, you should give this overlooked gem a try too.

2004 ‘til Infinity: Green Day - American Idiot

Since we’ve already recommended the new Green Day album, we might as well use this edition of 1520’s Record Report to look back at Green Day’s groundbreaking 2004 (don’t call it a) comeback album American Idiot. Not only is it a great album by any standard, but it is probably safe to say that it was the leader of a pack of records that made Millennials the last generation to fall in love with punk on a massive scale (sorry, Gen Z MGK fans just don’t put the same numbers on the board). A truly generational record that we, and many others, still know by heart to this day. Happy 20th Birthday, American Idiot.

One Love,

Marius | 1520