* KATIE DARBY
* Posted May 2, 2010 at midnight

CORRESPONDENT After 13 top ten singles, eight albums, and two decades in the music industry, the Goo Goo Dolls are still looking for that perfect song.

They've recorded their latest efforts in "Something for the Rest of Us," an album coming out this summer, but the trio of Johnny Rzeznik (lead vocalist and guitarist), Robby Takac (bassist), and Mike Malinin (drummer) is taking their new tunes on the road now, performing them in The Centre Wednesday.

"We're playing some of the new songs in the show right now, which is kind of interesting because the music hasn't been released yet, and looking at the people's reactions is interesting," says Rzeznik.

Though the Goo Goo Dolls succeeded with the song "Name" off of their 1995 album, "A Boy Named Goo," they catapulted into superstardom with "Iris," the Grammy-nominated song from the "City of Angels" soundtrack. After that, there was no looking back: the band's string of hits included, "Slide," "Black Balloon," "Sympathy," and "Here is Gone," among others.

Rzeznik says the band is moving steadily forward as it tours the new music. "We play a couple older songs, ... which is a lot of fun to do, but some of it — I was just a silly kid (when he recorded them) you know? I don't think it's healthy for an artist to keep looking back. You have to stay focused on where you are and where you're going."

"Something for the Rest of Us" does take the band in a new direction. Rzeznik says that even the writing process was different.

"I just wanted to keep experimenting with different sounds. I did a lot of writing on a piano," he noted. "I'm not a very good piano player, so it's really kind of interesting to sit and play an instrument where I didn't understand the way it works. I was able to move in different directions."

He also wanted more topical material. "The album, a good chunk, really wound up dealing with the emotional impact of the uncertainty and anxiety that we live with every day," he said.

"I think there's a huge sort of wave of escapism in music, which is fine, but I wanted to say something for everyday people, something that they could relate to," says Rzeznik.

The Goo Goo Dolls want Wednesday's concert to reach the community in a more tangible way, as well, Rzeznik says, "We're working with USA Harvest, and it's a volunteer organization, and we're asking people to bring as many canned goods and nonperishable foods to the show as possible. It gets directly distributed to the homeless shelters in the town that you're in, so it's helping your neighbor directly."

IF YOU GO

What: The Goo Goo Dolls perform with opening band The Rocket Summer

When: 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 5

Where: The Centre

Tickets: $33, plus handling and facility fees, are available at Roberts Stadium and The Centre box offices and Ticketmaster outlets as well as online at www.ticketmaster.com and by phone at (800) 745-3000.

Fan food drive: The Goo Goo Dolls invite audience members to bring canned and other nonperishable food to be collected at the concert by USA Harvest, a program that redistributes the food to local homeless shelters.

[source]http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/may/02/no-headline---02d10googoo/[/source]