By: Ryan Martin
Holy shit it’s here. After 5 long years my favorite band, blink-182, has FINALLY put out some new music. After a lengthy turmoil with now defunct founding member, Tom DeLonge which has been discussed previously, Mark Hoppus, bassist and co-vocalist and Travis Barker, their incredibly talented drummer, decided to move forward with the band and recruited Alkaline Trio’s frontman, Matt Skiba to fill in Tom’s spot. With Tom’s nasally tone and challenging nature, some agree that the spot is too big to be filled. But the new member of blink-182 disagrees and comes in swinging with fresh new energy that we haven’t heard from the band in almost 15 years. Matt, Mark & Travis went into the studio early this year with a lot of pressure weighing on this album but pushed it all to the side and got back to the fundamentals of blink-182. Fast catchy pop-punk, dick jokes, and good times all around. It would be incorrect to say this album lived up to the hype because there was more anxiety for die-hard blink fans than there was hype. Was this even blink-182? Some fans strive to prove that blink's new work is basically just +44. Which was Mark and Travis’s side project while blink-182 was on hiatus back from 2005-2009. Some believe that Tom made blink-182 with his distinct tone and sound. While Tom DeLonge has a sound that cannot be easily recreated professionally and not sound like a joke, he didn’t make the band. Mark and Travis deciding to move forward with the band may have been a risky move in tainting blink's legacy, but they made the right decision. Because that decision resulted in California.
California kicks off with one of my favorites off the record. A fast, punk rock anthem under two minutes called ‘Cynical’. The only bad thing I can say about this song is that it isn’t longer. ‘Bored to Death’ is the album’s lead single and surprisingly had one of the highest debut on the Billboard charts the band has ever had. I’m not in love with this song to be completely honest. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad song by any means because it’s catchy as all hell but 'Bored To Death' has a stadium-anthem feel to it that I don’t care for. I prefer songs like ‘Cynical’, ‘She’s Out Of Her Mind’, ‘Rabbit Hole’ and ‘The Only Thing That Matters’ that are just full of lighting speed drumming and power chords. It reminds me of blink-182 around the release of Enema of The State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket at the turn of the millennium when they were one of the most popular bands in the world. Something to be admired from this album is the fact that it takes points from different eras in Blink’s catalog. Some songs are fast like those previously mentioned but some songs feature some synths and have a darker production on them. Reminiscing of Blink’s self-titled effort or their last album, Neighborhoods. The song ‘Left Alone’ is a great example of this. Another one of my favorites off the album. 'No Future' brings some energy back although I do find the chorus a little corny, but it's not a bad song. California carries summery-party anthems reminiscing of the theme Enema of the State had. ‘Kings of the Weekend’ is a standout that make you anxious for those times spent on Friday and Saturday nights with your best friends and ‘Teenage Satellites’, a song that just feels like summer. It makes you want to enjoy every second of it before it slips away in August like it always does. On California, Blink shows they aren’t afraid to reach back in their catalog for influence but also show they’re progressing forward musically. An impressive statement considering where the band is currently.
Holy shit it’s here. After 5 long years my favorite band, blink-182, has FINALLY put out some new music. After a lengthy turmoil with now defunct founding member, Tom DeLonge which has been discussed previously, Mark Hoppus, bassist and co-vocalist and Travis Barker, their incredibly talented drummer, decided to move forward with the band and recruited Alkaline Trio’s frontman, Matt Skiba to fill in Tom’s spot. With Tom’s nasally tone and challenging nature, some agree that the spot is too big to be filled. But the new member of blink-182 disagrees and comes in swinging with fresh new energy that we haven’t heard from the band in almost 15 years. Matt, Mark & Travis went into the studio early this year with a lot of pressure weighing on this album but pushed it all to the side and got back to the fundamentals of blink-182. Fast catchy pop-punk, dick jokes, and good times all around. It would be incorrect to say this album lived up to the hype because there was more anxiety for die-hard blink fans than there was hype. Was this even blink-182? Some fans strive to prove that blink's new work is basically just +44. Which was Mark and Travis’s side project while blink-182 was on hiatus back from 2005-2009. Some believe that Tom made blink-182 with his distinct tone and sound. While Tom DeLonge has a sound that cannot be easily recreated professionally and not sound like a joke, he didn’t make the band. Mark and Travis deciding to move forward with the band may have been a risky move in tainting blink's legacy, but they made the right decision. Because that decision resulted in California.
California kicks off with one of my favorites off the record. A fast, punk rock anthem under two minutes called ‘Cynical’. The only bad thing I can say about this song is that it isn’t longer. ‘Bored to Death’ is the album’s lead single and surprisingly had one of the highest debut on the Billboard charts the band has ever had. I’m not in love with this song to be completely honest. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad song by any means because it’s catchy as all hell but 'Bored To Death' has a stadium-anthem feel to it that I don’t care for. I prefer songs like ‘Cynical’, ‘She’s Out Of Her Mind’, ‘Rabbit Hole’ and ‘The Only Thing That Matters’ that are just full of lighting speed drumming and power chords. It reminds me of blink-182 around the release of Enema of The State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket at the turn of the millennium when they were one of the most popular bands in the world. Something to be admired from this album is the fact that it takes points from different eras in Blink’s catalog. Some songs are fast like those previously mentioned but some songs feature some synths and have a darker production on them. Reminiscing of Blink’s self-titled effort or their last album, Neighborhoods. The song ‘Left Alone’ is a great example of this. Another one of my favorites off the album. 'No Future' brings some energy back although I do find the chorus a little corny, but it's not a bad song. California carries summery-party anthems reminiscing of the theme Enema of the State had. ‘Kings of the Weekend’ is a standout that make you anxious for those times spent on Friday and Saturday nights with your best friends and ‘Teenage Satellites’, a song that just feels like summer. It makes you want to enjoy every second of it before it slips away in August like it always does. On California, Blink shows they aren’t afraid to reach back in their catalog for influence but also show they’re progressing forward musically. An impressive statement considering where the band is currently.
While I could go on and on about this album, I feel it’s only fair to get into the low points. ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘San Diego’ are some of the most experimental synth-filled tracks on the album that sound a lot like Alkaline Trio and don’t feel at home on the album. They almost drag through the album and I feel they could have easily been left off the project. They distract from the fun tracks and bring in a dreary vibe that isn’t well conceived with choruses that work as well as they could. Mark stated in an interview that the album displays the highs and dark underlying of the state of California and what it means to the band. ‘Los Angeles’, ‘San Diego’ and ‘California’ all demonstrate this dark underlying that he was referring to. While I like the idea of a darker vibe that the band nailed with the self-titled record or even points on Neighborhoods, these songs are not strong. I feel that ‘Home is Such a Lonely Place’ is a very radio-friendly song as well as sounds like something that would fit in very well with the current state of pop-rock. I won’t say that I dislike ‘Home is Such a Lonely Place’ because the theme is nice and the lyrics are sweet. It’s just that pop-rock currently fucking sucks. It’s also very odd that the entire album is so cleaned up. On a blink record I’m usually expecting songs about fucking and being rebellious or whatever, but on California there is only one song ('Rabbit Hole') with profanities in it. Not that it distracts from the music, it’s just odd to see coming from a band who named one of their albums after a masturbation joke. The joke songs on this album make up for it though, so maybe not all hope is lost if Mark can ever figure out what it is about you that he can’t put his finger in ('Brohemian Rhapsody'). The only song I haven’t talked about yet is ‘Sober’, which is a great song to sing along to but on it’s own, it doesn’t do much for me except for the lyrics. I think the dandelion-four leaf metaphor is great. Even if it was the lead singer of Fall Out Boy who wrote it for them.
I am proud to say that blink-182 is back. With a strong comeback album under their belt and a world tour ahead of them, I am excited for the band’s future and what us as the fans have in store. I highly recommend checking out this album even if you aren’t familiar with their old catalog. I’m not sure that this album would win over anyone that isn’t a fan of the band’s previous material. California is a very blink-182 album. It’s catchy, it’s new, it’s fun. July 1st could not have been a better date to release the album, with 182 days into the year and smack dab in the middle of summer. I am stoked to see what’s next for blink-182 as they have released an incredibly strong comeback album that should have been what came out following their reunion back in 2009. Fans of blink have been urgently awaiting what is California for over 7 years now. If it was Tom that was originally slowing blink down from moving as fast as they are right now, then good riddance. I love Tom DeLonge as an artist, but right now he is doing what makes him happy. Not just “Chasing UFO’s” like the media says but creatively filling himself. He is currently directing a feature film, working with his band Angels & Airwaves, creating comic books, putting out novels and releasing a documentary on his musical career come August. Tom is moving at his own pace and so is blink. I believe their paths will cross again one day but now, blink-182 has regained their momentum without Tom and are finally creating the music fans love them for once again.
I am proud to say that blink-182 is back. With a strong comeback album under their belt and a world tour ahead of them, I am excited for the band’s future and what us as the fans have in store. I highly recommend checking out this album even if you aren’t familiar with their old catalog. I’m not sure that this album would win over anyone that isn’t a fan of the band’s previous material. California is a very blink-182 album. It’s catchy, it’s new, it’s fun. July 1st could not have been a better date to release the album, with 182 days into the year and smack dab in the middle of summer. I am stoked to see what’s next for blink-182 as they have released an incredibly strong comeback album that should have been what came out following their reunion back in 2009. Fans of blink have been urgently awaiting what is California for over 7 years now. If it was Tom that was originally slowing blink down from moving as fast as they are right now, then good riddance. I love Tom DeLonge as an artist, but right now he is doing what makes him happy. Not just “Chasing UFO’s” like the media says but creatively filling himself. He is currently directing a feature film, working with his band Angels & Airwaves, creating comic books, putting out novels and releasing a documentary on his musical career come August. Tom is moving at his own pace and so is blink. I believe their paths will cross again one day but now, blink-182 has regained their momentum without Tom and are finally creating the music fans love them for once again.