Credit: TYATH

Good and Ready

Good Charlotte's guitarist and songwriter Benji Madden knows exactly what he wants in a girl. And in the new Good Charlotte song 'Riot Girl', he lets the whole world know all about it.

She's got tattoos and piercings/She likes Minor Threat...My girl's a hot girl/A hood rat who needs an attitude adjustment/

"Yeah," Madden says, laughing. "That's definitely describing my dream girl, my punk rock girl. But good punk rock girls are hard to find. They're always mean."

And despite the best guesses of some Australian music followers, the song--from the US pop-punkers' second album 'The Young and the Hopeless'-–is not inspired by Killing Heidi's Ella Hooper, with whom Madden shared a brief romance when Good Charlotte toured Australia last year.

"They're all inspired by Australians," Madden says sheepishly when pressed. "This is our favourite place."

While the youthful rock'n'roll romance caused a stir, Madden remained mostly unaware of the fuss, returning home to Maryland in the US as soon as Good Charlotte wrapped up their Australian commitments.

"I heard things here and there, but I wasn't really sure," he says. "Somebody told me I might have been in a gossip column here or there. So I'm not really sure what was said. But I'd like to get some copies of it, so I'm not totally ignorant to what the rumours are.”

Luckily for Madden, and the redness of his cheeks, there are now bigger stories in Good Charlotte's world than old girlfriends. Their self-titled debut album and the single 'Little Things' had the band, led by Madden and his identical twin Joel (on vocals), pegged as little more than punk–pop wannabes. But they've come into their own on 'The Young and the Hopeless', which has already spawned the radio fave 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'.

"We spent the last two years with bands that we grew up listening to and they taught us a lot," Madden says.

"We'd never left home, we'd never traveled, so just being on tour so much, you grow up a lot. And playing together everyday, we're closer than ever. So when we went in the studio, we were a different band."