In the late ’80s, Green Day exploded out of the Bay Area — three boisterous brats with distorted guitars, bold lyrics, and just enough eyeliner to make middle America squirm. This was more than a band — it was a brand. A sound. A movement. Songs like Basket Case, When I Come Around, and Wake Me Up When September Ends were certainly catchy. They were also cultural timestamps. Billy Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Frank Edwin Wright, better known by his stage name Tré Cool, created anthems for the restless, the misfits, the bored kids gazing out of classroom windows, wondering what life had in store. Green Day didn’t cater to the mainstream; they shouted over it. For a time, it felt as though they were on our side.