Gun control and mass shootings are subject of new Green Day single Bang Bang

Green Day are addressing gun violence and the current American political climate with new single, Bang Bang. Following the mainstream stadium success of recent years, the track, which was released on Friday [12 August], sees the band return from a lengthy hiatus with new music that addresses current affairs and is closer to their more political, punk roots.

Recalling the 2004 album American Idiot and the band's origins in California's DIY music scene, the potentially controversial single is an anti-gun-violence song that's written from the perspective of a mass shooter. Bang Bang is the first new music to be released from the band's forthcoming album, Revolution Radio.

"It's about the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media," singer Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone of the song. "To get into the brain of someone like that was freaky. After I wrote it, all I wanted to do was get that out of my brain because it just freaked me out."

The release of Bang Bang comes in the wake of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's staunch support of US gun owners' second amendment rights, and President Obama's failed attempts to dramatically reform gun-related legislation after a string of mass shootings in the US.

While not a concept album like American Idiot, Revolution Radio will marks a change in direction for the band and will be their first full-length album since 2012.

Fan reaction online to the new single was positive, with the band's followers welcoming them back from hiatus.

While others drew comparisons with 2004: