Grade: -A

After penning two politically-charged rock operas and an accompanying Broadway musical, Green Day is letting loose with a stripped-down sound and a dozen high-energy pop-punk tracks.

The band released its ninth studio album, “¡Uno!”, this week, the first installment of the “¡Uno!” “¡Dos!” “¡Tré!” trilogy of albums that will span the next five months.

This time, it’s not political, it’s personal — a welcomed shift from the weight of 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown.” Instead, “¡Uno!” is a punchy 40-minute party, tackling everyday concerns like nostalgia, enemies, love and lust.

“The last record got so serious,” front man Billie Joe Armstrong said this summer in an interview with MTV. “We wanted to make things more fun.”

The new themes may surprise Green Day fans attracted by the heavier sound of 2004’s “American Idiot” or “Breakdown,” but those familiar with the band’s entire catalog will appreciate the return to its lighthearted roots.

But just calling “¡Uno!” a modern-age model of Green Day’s 1994 major-label debut “Dookie” doesn’t do it justice. It’s brilliantly infused with 20 years of experience and an upbeat energy comparable to Foxboro Hot Tubs, the group’s garage-rock alter ego.

“¡Uno!” opens with a mixture of fast-paced singles (“Nuclear Family” and “Let Yourself Go”) and fan favorites (“Stay the Night” and “Carpe Diem”) whose demo versions have been making the rounds online for months.

Avid fans like myself who overplayed the opening tracks all summer might find the album’s lower half less memorable without listening to it a few times through. But “¡Uno!” quickly grew on me, with pre-“Dookie” style love song “Fell For You” and speedy “Angel Blue” competing to be my favorite track, but “Stay the Night” ultimately claiming the title.

Green Day’s most recently circulated singles — slower-paced anthem “Oh Love” and four-on-the-floor dance beat “Kill The DJ” — are outliers to “¡Uno!” as a whole. The two, along with the hand claps, cat calls and psychedelic backbeat of “Troublemaker,” add variety to the collection.

But while “Kill The DJ” is just unconventional enough to work, “Oh Love” and “Troublemaker” fall short to the dynamic, adrenaline-filled tracks that dominate the album. It’s those tracks that make “¡Uno!” memorable and listening to it a high-spirited experience.

For this reason, I’m disappointed some listeners are morbidly over analyzing the album’s content after learning Armstrong is seeking substance abuse treatment following a profanity-filled rant at last weekend’s iHeartRadio music festival.

To me, “¡Uno!” doesn’t suggest a masked mid-life crisis or a cry for help, like some suggest. Unlike the rock operas, it’s simple, upbeat and catchy enough to take at face value. That’s what I love about it.

“¡Uno!” isn’t groundbreaking — but it isn’t meant to be. It’s a fun, fresh start for a band that has spent nearly a decade crafting sociopolitical concept albums and is now ready to have a good time.

And with “¡Dos!” and “¡Tré!” fast approaching, it’s safe to say Green Day’s party is just getting started.