Goo Goo Dolls stay open to interpretation on ‘Something for the Rest of Us’

By MARIO TARRADELL Music Critic mtarradell@dallasnews.com Twenty-four years ago, in the midst of the synthesized pop landscape that was 1986, John Rzeznik formed a garage band eager to play punk music. In quick need of a name, Rzeznik and his two rocking mates paged to a True Detective advertisement for a Goo Goo Doll, a new toy on the market. It stuck. The Goo Goo Dolls were born. Something for the Rest of Us, released Aug. 31, marks the 24th anniversary of the Goo Goo Dolls. The CD is a milestone for two reasons: It celebrates longevity in an industry still known for crash-and-burn casualties. And many of the songs thematically examine the hard times we're living in just as the group remains intact. Since its inception, the Goo Goo Dolls has only had one personnel change. That was 15 years ago. "We shied away from the celebrity nonsense and we've had a lot of success and a little bit of success," says Rzeznik, 44, from his home in Los Angeles. "What I've learned is you have to be very secure in who you are and what you say, otherwise the world will just eat you alive. And believe me, they are always trying." There, in a nutshell, is the reason vocalist-guitarist-keyboardist Rzeznik, bassist-vocalist Robby Takac and drummer-percussionist Mike Malinin have outlasted the tides. They emerged unharmed after the intoxicating mid-to-late 1990s triumphs spearheaded by the ubiquitous singles "Name," "Iris" and "Slide." Two albums, 1995's A Boy Named Goo and 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl, sold a combined 5 million copies. "We got our first gold record and that was a big whoopee-do for the label," he says. "Ian Astbury from the Cult was there and he was like, 'You know what I did with my gold records? I took them out to the garage and jumped up and down on them and busted them.' I got from that conversation that celebrity is really not that important. So we put the gold records in the back of the car and went and had tacos." The art of songwriting, of crafting music, is still paramount for Rzeznik. Something for the Rest of Us tracks such as "Sweetest Lie," "Not Broken," "Soldier" and "Something for the Rest of Us" talk about the uncertainties of today as well as the sacrifices everyday people make. But Rzeznik isn't a political writer, nor is he into recounting the news in four-minute rock vignettes. He takes a symbolic approach. "I like to be kind of oblique about it because I'm not a preacher," he says of his songwriting. "I want people to interpret it for themselves. That's cool. Writing like that lets people have the opportunity to interpret the material the way they want to interpret it. They kind of own it. It becomes their song." http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-dolls_0918gd.ART.State.Edition1.3573fea.html