Kerplunk
Studio album by Green Day
Released	January 17, 1992
Recorded	May to September 1991 at Art of Ears Studio in San Francisco, California
Genre	Pop punk, Punk rock
Length	42:08
Label	Lookout!
Producer	Green Day, Andy Ernst
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Pitchfork Media (8.5/10) link Robert Christgau (**)
Green Day chronology
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (1991) Kerplunk (1992) Dookie (1994)

Kerplunk (also known as Kerplunk!) is the second full-length album by pop punk band Green Day. It was released on January 17, 1992 on Lookout! Records. Kerplunk was their last release on an independent label and was also the first album to feature their current band lineup with Tré Cool on drums. The album went on to become one of the highest-selling indie albums ever. Major labels took notice of Kerplunk's phenomenal popularity and many approached the band. Green Day realized that they had outgrown their record distribution capacity with Lookout! and eventually signed with Reprise Records. With Reprise, Green Day would record and release their third album Dookie (1994), which would become a landmark album of the 1990s with over 10 million units sold in the U.S. alone.

The album officially includes only 12 tracks, but the versions released on CD and cassette also include the 4 tracks from the Sweet Children EP. One of those 4 tracks is a cover of The Who's "My Generation". Another notable track on the album is "Welcome to Paradise", which the band would re-record for their next album Dookie.

As of November 2006, Kerplunk has sold 699,001 units in the US ¹, and over 4 million worldwide.

In August 2005, Green Day pulled this album, as well as all of their other material released through the label, from Lookout! due to unpaid royalties.² It was reissued by Reprise Records, who Green Day has been with since leaving Lookout!, on January 9, 2007.³ Note that in Europe, the album was released by Epitaph Europe, and has remained in print. In December 2007, Blender magazine ranked Kerplunk #47 on their list, "The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever."

Album notes

• The track "2000 Light Years Away" was later remixed by Dookie producer Rob Cavallo and mixer Jerry Finn and released on Jerky Boys: The Movie soundtrack in 1995. Also, a live version of this song appeared on the UK "Basket Case" single.
• The title of the song "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" refers to Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, which is one of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's favorite books. The American punk rock band Screeching Weasel's album How To Make Enemies And Irritate People features a song called "I Wrote Holden Caulfield". The album also features Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt, who replaced original bassist Danny Vapid when he left the band in 1993.
• The booklet states that the album is "In Memory of Gravy...". Gravy was the name of bassist Mike Dirnt's pet cat that died.
• The "My Adventure with Green Day" story in the Kerplunk! booklet says it was written by "Laurie L." The story is completely fictional and the name Laurie L is actually a tribute to Larry Livermore founder of Lookout! records. The author originally wrote the story for a punk fanzine, Tales Of Blarg!
• The album booklet thanks Adrienne Nesser, who Billie Joe eventually married.
• The booklet thanks Jason Relva, whose death would later inspire Mike Dirnt to write "J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva)".
• On the album's booklet, the band thanks both John Kiffmeyer and Al Sobrante, even though they are actually the same person (Al Sobrante is Kiffmeyer's nickname).
• The album was the 46th album released by Lookout! Records.
• The album thanks "Brain Stew". Brain Stew is the nickname of James Washburn, a friend of the band; Brain Stew would later become a track released on the 1995 album Insomniac.
• Christie Road is a road in Martinez, California, slightly northeast of Berkeley. It mainly parallels the tracks of the BNSF Railway, hence the train references in the song.

Track listing

All songs by Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics) and Green Day (music), except where noted.

1. "2000 Light Years Away" – 2:24
2. "One for the Razorbacks" – 2:30
3. "Welcome to Paradise" – 3:30
4. "Christie Road" – 3:33
5. "Private Ale" – 2:26
6. "Dominated Love Slave" (Tré Cool) – 1:42
7. "One of My Lies" – 2:19
8. "80" – 3:39
9. "Android" – 3:00
10. "No One Knows" – 3:39
11. "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" – 2:44
12. "Words I Might Have Ate" – 2:32

Bonus tracks

The following tracks are only available on the CD release. They were first released on the Sweet Children EP.

13. "Sweet Children" (Armstrong, Mike Dirnt) – 1:41
14. "Best Thing in Town" – 2:03
15. "Strangeland" – 2:08
16. "My Generation" (Pete Townshend) – 2:19

Personnel

• Billie Joe Armstrong – vocals, guitar, drums on "Dominated Love Slave"
• Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
• Tré Cool – drums, vocals and guitar on "Dominated Love Slave"
• John Kiffmeyer, a.k.a. Al Sobrante – drums on "Sweet Children", "Best Thing in Town", "Strangeland" and "My Generation"

External links

• Kerplunk LP on greendaydiscography.com

References