By: Ryan Martin
Holy shit. Finally. After 4 long years Blink-182 is back with a new line-up change and a rekindled sense of purpose. They have parted ways with co-founder and distinct member Tom DeLonge for creative differences and added Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba to record their seventh studio album, California. Which was announced on April 27th for preorder along with a new single titled 'Bored To Death'. The album is expected July 1st. The band is expected to be touring with A Day To Remember as well this summer which would be their first heading tour since the 20th Anniversary Tour in 2012. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a diehard Blink fan.
I remember hearing Tom had left the band back in January 2015 and it devastated me. Just as soon as I started liking this band they break up again before I have the chance to see them live. Fortunately, Mark and Travis were insistent on retaining the band’s legacy and sought out Matt Skiba to fill Tom’s places in a couple shows. Fast forward a couple months and we have a new blink album being recorded with Skiba taking on guitar duties. We got our first taste of the new sound with 'Bored To Death', the first single off of California. I'm not going to lie, I was totally nervous when I heard blink was releasing their first album without Tom. I was afraid that it was going to sound identical to a +44 project which is Mark and Travis’s side project while Blink was originally on hiatus from 2005-2009. I’m also not going to tell you the single blew me away either. I’ve listened to the song around 5 times since it came out in attempts to gather an honest opinion about it. I feel confident I’ve reached a decision.
The single is good. It’s not great. In simple terms. I've heard a ton of stellar reviews from different sources. For instance, Lisa Worden is the music director for one of the biggest radio stations in Los Angeles, KROQ. She said “I think any fan of Blink-182 is going to be ecstatic when they hear the music. I really do! It sounds like Blink-182 but it sounds like Blink in 2016. Lyrically it’s clever.” She’s not wrong. Mark’s lyrics are smart and relatable with lines like “Life is too short to last long/Back on earth I'm broken/Lost and cold and fading fast”. The sound is very polished and doesn’t sound a lot like early blink but it definitely has the edge to it that Mark has been wanting to put in blink for a while as seen on previous songs he’s written for the band, including a song off their last album Neighborhoods called ‘Heart’s All Gone’. On the downside, I don't think blink is making any huge moves just yet. I think the name of the new album is cool and gives me hopes for a summery album, but it’s predictable. I’m also not huge on the artwork just yet. Maybe it will sink in for me a little more as time goes on. The music from them is very fine-tuned (thanks to pop-punk legendary producer John Feldmann) which may be good as poppier anthems are needed to dominate today’s radio waves rather than the edgier rock anthems they lack anyways. This wasn't the case when blink was in their prime in the late 90’s/early 00’s though. With a lot riding on this new album, and the band feeling confident, I hope to see them return to their roots in a lot of different ways. Some of my favorite memories of early blink-182 is their humor as in their live performances, Tom and Mark would banter on stage about sex jokes and toilet humor. The band lost that in their later years and seeing as Tom has now left, I think now would be a good time to bring in some of their lost humor to show fans old and new that even in their older state, they still don’t take themselves too seriously and just want to have a good time.
Holy shit. Finally. After 4 long years Blink-182 is back with a new line-up change and a rekindled sense of purpose. They have parted ways with co-founder and distinct member Tom DeLonge for creative differences and added Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba to record their seventh studio album, California. Which was announced on April 27th for preorder along with a new single titled 'Bored To Death'. The album is expected July 1st. The band is expected to be touring with A Day To Remember as well this summer which would be their first heading tour since the 20th Anniversary Tour in 2012. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a diehard Blink fan.
I remember hearing Tom had left the band back in January 2015 and it devastated me. Just as soon as I started liking this band they break up again before I have the chance to see them live. Fortunately, Mark and Travis were insistent on retaining the band’s legacy and sought out Matt Skiba to fill Tom’s places in a couple shows. Fast forward a couple months and we have a new blink album being recorded with Skiba taking on guitar duties. We got our first taste of the new sound with 'Bored To Death', the first single off of California. I'm not going to lie, I was totally nervous when I heard blink was releasing their first album without Tom. I was afraid that it was going to sound identical to a +44 project which is Mark and Travis’s side project while Blink was originally on hiatus from 2005-2009. I’m also not going to tell you the single blew me away either. I’ve listened to the song around 5 times since it came out in attempts to gather an honest opinion about it. I feel confident I’ve reached a decision.
The single is good. It’s not great. In simple terms. I've heard a ton of stellar reviews from different sources. For instance, Lisa Worden is the music director for one of the biggest radio stations in Los Angeles, KROQ. She said “I think any fan of Blink-182 is going to be ecstatic when they hear the music. I really do! It sounds like Blink-182 but it sounds like Blink in 2016. Lyrically it’s clever.” She’s not wrong. Mark’s lyrics are smart and relatable with lines like “Life is too short to last long/Back on earth I'm broken/Lost and cold and fading fast”. The sound is very polished and doesn’t sound a lot like early blink but it definitely has the edge to it that Mark has been wanting to put in blink for a while as seen on previous songs he’s written for the band, including a song off their last album Neighborhoods called ‘Heart’s All Gone’. On the downside, I don't think blink is making any huge moves just yet. I think the name of the new album is cool and gives me hopes for a summery album, but it’s predictable. I’m also not huge on the artwork just yet. Maybe it will sink in for me a little more as time goes on. The music from them is very fine-tuned (thanks to pop-punk legendary producer John Feldmann) which may be good as poppier anthems are needed to dominate today’s radio waves rather than the edgier rock anthems they lack anyways. This wasn't the case when blink was in their prime in the late 90’s/early 00’s though. With a lot riding on this new album, and the band feeling confident, I hope to see them return to their roots in a lot of different ways. Some of my favorite memories of early blink-182 is their humor as in their live performances, Tom and Mark would banter on stage about sex jokes and toilet humor. The band lost that in their later years and seeing as Tom has now left, I think now would be a good time to bring in some of their lost humor to show fans old and new that even in their older state, they still don’t take themselves too seriously and just want to have a good time.
"I think any fan of Blink-182 is going to be ecstatic when they hear the music" - Lisa Worden
With the new blink record I mainly am looking to hear a departure from what I would expect on a +44 record and a return to the reasons that made blink-182 my favorite band to begin with. Humor, catchy and relatable lyrics, as well as dynamic guitar riffs and powerful drumming. After this first single, I cannot say that we are in a sure state to receive that, but I can say that as a blink fan, I think this new album will not disappoint.