By Tom Lanham photo by Claire Marie Vogel O Lucky Men !
I
t seemed like an intriguing request , thought Goo Goo Dolls founder John Rzeznik at the time . And one that was impossible for any kind-hearted rocker to resist . Looking out into the crowd as the band ’ s set built to its signature smash “ Iris ” – the 1998 single that spent 18 consecutive weeks at # 1 on the charts that year – he saw a young girl , standing with her father , holding a placard that earnestly read , “ I want to come up and sing ‘ Iris ’ with you .’ The novelty of it intrigued the vocalist / guitarist – was this kid really a fan ? Did she have what it takes to go head to head with his trademark warm , woodsy rasp ? “ So I was like , ‘ Yeah , sure – what the hell ? Come on up and sing !’” he recalls with an ironic chuckle . “ But I asked her first , ‘ Do you really know this song ?’ And she said , ‘ Yeah , I know it ,’ so we brought her up and we started singing ‘ Iris ’ together and then finished singing it . And then I get a phone call from a guy that works with us , and he said , ‘ Dude – that performance is all over the internet , and this is your viral moment ! That girl is a TikTok star , and she ’ s signed to Warner Chappell publishing !’”
Rzeznik had to pause for a minute to take it all – who was Zooming who in this surreal symbiotic scenario ? “ I was like , ‘ Whaaaaaat ? What the hell just happened here ?’” he says . “ So it ’ s like , uh , we live in very strange times .” And that ’ s exactly the topic he addresses in the group ’ s absolutely brilliant new pop-punk single , “ Yeah , I Like You ,” culled from a just-issued 13th catalog effort , Chaos in Bloom , which the musician produced himself .
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The Goo Goo Dolls started out in Buffalo , N . Y ., as a Replacements-scruffy punk band back in 1986 , before expanding their sound via 1995 ’ s breakthrough anthem “ Name ,” then the orchestral Bic-flicking ballad “ Iris ” three years later . Still workout-trim and in great health , he will turn 57 this December , the same month that Liliana – he and his wife Melina ’ s daughter – turns six . So naturally , lots of cross-generational thinking has been on his mind , especially when the family was locked down in its rustic New Jersey home . And mortality can take on surprising new dimensions once you realize that not only will your children hopefully outlive you , but your songs – 16 # 1 and Top 10 hits ( an all-time radio record ), and over 15 million albums sold , to date – will most certainly will . And if TikTok brings his music to a whole new Gen- Z audience , hey , he ’ ll take it , Rzeznik says . No matter how unusual it might seem on the social media surface .
Composing “ Iris ,” the singer elaborates , was “ a nice piece of luck because that song literally changed my life .” Without it , he sighs , he ’ d probably be tending bar somewhere for a living right now , and he ’ s not joking . It was a mixed blessing ; some longtime punk-era fans were displeased with the new pop-savvy sound , missing the point that any decent , ambitious tunesmith should be pushing the creative envelope nonstop , in fear of growing stagnant . “ So ‘ Iris ’ helped legitimize our band in some circles ,” he adds . “ And I still remember Robby ( Takac , bassist / vocalist , and I ) were in the studio when that song was being recorded , and we were watching the string section come in and start to play . And we just kind of went , ‘ Umm , I don ’ t know if we should do this .’ And then it was just like , ‘ Nah – fuck it ! Let ’ s just do it !’ And now that song is on its second generation of people listening to it , and it ’ s just overwhelming in that respect because I never thought , with anything I write , that so many people would actually relate to it .” Rzeznik swears he won ’ t proffer advice to any younger musicians unless they seriously ask for it . Ergo , he found himself in just such a discussion not long ago . The kids kept praising the relative ease of utilizing social media to popularize modern music , at which point he felt compelled to school them . He hopes he didn ’ t sound like Abe Simpson , but it was a completely different DIY world back in the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s when you had to fight hard for not only the music you wanted to hear but getting the music you made into the hands of deserving , but disconnected , listeners . “ I told ‘ em that we used to have this network of fanzines that we would find in the back of magazines , and we used to mail cassettes to all these fanzine people ,” he says . Each fanzine had roughly a hundred subscribers , so each package was a big shot in the dark , of course . “ But it was so much more exciting – it felt like a very grass-roots thing ,” he rhapsodizes . “ And I guess the grass-roots version of that now is having a viral moment . So I feel like the internet has splintered , rather than unified , the music scene .”
So while Rzeznik might sound cynical , possibly misanthropic , he ’ s not , as exemplified by the torpedo-sleek , gruff-but-polished slice of ear candy that is “ Yeah , I Like You ,” which is poised to be the next entry in his storied saga of monster hits . And at no time does the listener feel max-Martin-manipulated , as if a clever committee sat down in Sweden to sculpt a path of least resistance to pop Valhalla . It ’ s just a great , instantly memorable morsel , kept down to Earth by not only the vocalist ’ s instantly recognizable , almost comforting voice but his scrappy sense of humor , which has characterized his work since the beginning . A ching-chinging anthem , it starts quietly , with him noting a make-believe millennial run-in : “ Met the queen of generation fame / I said , ‘ I ’ m sorry , I don ’ t know your name ,” which she doesn ’ t perceive as a slight – she has no idea who he , either , and they agree to disagree . But the narcissistic whelp ’ s elder has to admit , almost begrudgingly in the chorus , “ Yeah , I like you .” And who knows ? Maybe at some point in the not-toodistant future , when their careers happen to intersect , as in that recent TikTok stadiumconcert summit , they might be able to help each other out . Sly nudge-nudge wink to the gallery optional , of course .
The track ’ s video , directed by playful provocateur Keenan O ’ Reilly , hilariously underscores the worst as the sailor-shirted Rzeznik and a now purple-haired , buckethatted Takac stumble through some busy paparazzi-peppered backstage event and all the so-called celebrity gadflies such soirees invite . While news cameras giddily film it , chaos blooms , then blossoms into a melee , and even the worst gaffes make extremely
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