First off, I'm pretty much a one-man-band, so hiring an actual drummer or buying some new guitars/amps just isn't an option at this point. :)
 
That being said, I'm working on an indie/pop song, sort of along the lines of "In The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World and some of Green Day's songs like "Carpe Diem", "Know Your Enemy", etc.  I'm basically a classic rock guy, and while there is some crossover between the two styles of music, I'm looking to give the song an "authentic" feel as opposed to a "rock guy trying to do a punk/pop/indie song."  Not sure if that makes any sense whatsoever. :)
 
So, while I think I've got the vocal stylings down and have the basic guitar chord structure for this new Jimmy Eat World/Green Day tune, I'm having a tough time getting beyond my blues-inspired rock sound when it comes to drums, the bass line, and the guitar sound itself for this style of music.
 
I have a Strat and a Les Paul, and I run them through an Eleven Rack.  I'm typically a fan of the standard "Les Paul through a Marshall" or "Strat through an AC30, Fender or Soldano" settings, but in experimenting with the various other amp sim/guitar setups, I can't quite nail down a combo that sounds right for the punk/pop/indie style of music.  Any guitar players out there who regularly play this type of music who can shed some light on your setups?
 
As far as bass goes, my skills are pretty limited so I'll most likely need to use a virtual instrument and find some MIDI loops.  Any recommendations?  I use Addictive Drums 2 and have most of the kits, so I'll be looking for genre-appropriate drum loops as well.  If there are any MIDIPaks people have found to be useful for this style of music, let me know!
 
I know this kind of an open question and I'm obviously not looking for any "right" answers, just some feedback from people who regularly work on this type of music on what setups they use.  If nothing else, it's sure to spark some creative ideas!

If you have Amplitube 3, there's an Octaver pedal/preset you can use for bass parts (playing it on your guitar). I've only briefly used it to test out the sounds (sometime back) and found it to be useful. Do you have Guitar Rig 5? There's some good modern tones in there as well as Rammstein's sounds that you might find useful. A lot of trial an error might be needed to find the sound you want.
 
I also like Green Day somewhat, but I'm (like you) a blues/rock (& funk) type of guy.
 
Good luck!!!
 

I've never seen Green Day live, only heard the records, but I think that in-yer-face sound is mostly a studio creation. They're really a pretty standard power trio - Gibson guitars and Marshall amps, I think. Probably owing more to ZZ Top than to Johnny Rotten.
 
The guitars seem to be conventionally close-miked and doubled. Vocals are super-compressed with some kind of harmonic exciter for edge. Drums are loosely tuned, perhaps without bottom skins on the toms and mikes shoved right up inside them. But mostly, everything is ridiculously compressed.

Get a Telecaster. /thread

bitflipper
I've never seen Green Day live, only heard the records, but I think that in-yer-face sound is mostly a studio creation. They're really a pretty standard power trio - Gibson guitars and Marshall amps, I think. Probably owing more to ZZ Top than to Johnny Rotten.
 
The guitars seem to be conventionally close-miked and doubled. Vocals are super-compressed with some kind of harmonic exciter for edge. Drums are loosely tuned, perhaps without bottom skins on the toms and mikes shoved right up inside them. But mostly, everything is ridiculously compressed.

I have seen them live and they deliver that sound live. They were the tightest band I've seen to date. Billie Joe is actually a surprisingly decent lead player. You wouldn't think it because he's the songwriter, the vocalist and they play a garage punk style. But live he sneaks in some extended solos and he's surprisingly talented on them. They totally have that power guitar sound nailed for live performances.

Great question from the OP. I detected how they may have achieved one of their unique guitar sounds in Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I picked up the technique from a Groove 3 video from Kenny Gioa

I'm interested in this thread!.

I'm watching this one as well.