Okay, guys. I'm trying not to freak out, but BLINK-182 RELEASED THEIR FIRST ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS.
blink-182 has been one of my favorite bands since I was in the first grade. I remember listening to them in my brother's car and falling in love with the caricature drawing of Tom DeLonge from the "The Mark, Tom and Travis Show" album cover.
I grew up listening to them, so you can bet your bottom dollar my heart was shattered when the band went on hiatus in 2005, but luckily they came back to me. Unfortunately, that meant they released the album "Neighborhoods" which was far from amazing when compared to their older albums.
After the release of this album, it definitely wasn't much of a heartbreak to see Tom DeLonge see his way out of blink-182 last year because that meant that Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio crossed to another trio to make his debut as the second vocalist for blink and it was everything I could have hoped for and more.
I plan to do a track-by-track review, but if you aren't into those, in short I would say that Skiba definitely brings a lot to the table by reviving the "punk" in their "pop-punk" sound. And I honestly don't think this has to be said, but his guitar work is worlds better than that of DeLonge's. There are times in the album where Mark Hoppus and Matt Skiba can easily be mixed up with the sound in their voices, but that could just be because they went from DeLonge, whose voice was ridiculously unique, to the combo of Skiba and Hoppus, who both share the deeper and rougher sound. I noticed that the band did a pretty good job at mixing the more playful sound of blink-182 and the more serious sound of Alkaline Trio making what my brother would call Blinkaline, however, there were a few songs (noted below) that have somewhat of a new sound that I'm not sure works for blink yet, although I will say that this album has enough "na na's" to be considered a proper blink-182 album. Overall, I would say this was a solid album to make a comeback with and I will definitely be playing it on repeat until I see them in September.
Now that I somewhat summed up my feelings on the album, let's move into the track-by-track review, shall we? We shall!
1. Cynical
I think that this track was the perfect way to open the album. It really gives the feel of the new sound, with the addition of Skiba. It showcases how absolutely amazing Travis Barker still is at playing the drums, but also allows Skiba to show what he's going to be bringing to the album. It opens a little slower than anticipated, but 29 seconds into the song Barker is right back at killing it on the drums. It has a fast-paced feel to it that reminds me of some of blink's older songs, which is obviously a plus, but it has the perfect amount of the new sound. This song is one of the songs that got me most excited about the new album and guitar work.
2. Bored To Death
This was the first single released from Blinkaline, and I have to say that it gave me 100% hope that this new album would live up to the hype. It has an interesting mix of +44 sounds partnered with a few elements of self-titled blink. I love the chorus of this song because it's not only catchy, but the lyrics are great. By the end of the song you really get to hear just how talented Barker is on the drums, which still has me questioning why he's in a band like blink-182. This is a solid song and definitely a solid choice for the first single of their comeback album. I still play it on repeat every now and then.
3. She's Out Of Her Mind
I love this one because it gives me the vibe of "The Rock Show" with its playful guitar work and energetic chorus. This song definitely had me tapping my toes along the first time I listened to it and quickly became one of my favorites on the album. People might say pop-punk is dead, but I think this track begs to differ. It's a classic sound for blink-182, meaning it could be considered a little safe, but honestly, if you know what works, why not just create that?
4. Los Angeles
Psst. This would be one of those songs mentioned before that have a different sound to it that I'm honestly not sure if I like it or not. The beginning of the song throws me off because of the timing and it sort of sets the feel for the song, but the more I hear the chorus, the more it grows on me. The biggest struggle is that this song doesn't have a sound I've heard from blink or Alkaline before. That's not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just not sure it'll grow on me and if it does, it won't be for a while. I mean, Matt Skiba's voice does sound pretty sick in it.
5. Sober
"Let me call you when I'm sober. Na na na na na, na na na na..."
Ahhh, the classic Mark Hoppus "na na's." How could this be a blink-182 album without them being the majority of the lyrics to one song? To me, this song didn't really stick out to me on the album. There doesn't seem to really be anything too special about it. It's still pleasent to listen to, but I definitely didn't take note of it on first listen. I do, however, really like the line, "I'm a dandelion, you're a four leaf clover." Besides that one line in the chorus I can't really tell you anything about this song that stood out to me.
6. Built This Pool
Quite literally the most blink-182 thing I've heard since their self-titled album. It's 17 seconds long and Mark only says, "I want to see some naked dudes, that's why I built this pool." And then it's over. That's it. It definitely made for a good laugh since it's in the middle of the album.
7. No Future
Don't fret! More "na na's" as promised! Oh, and there's freaking group singing in this one. This might be one of the best ones to showcase how Hoppus and Skiba sound together. Hoppus sings the chorus with Skiba assisting with a great harmony and yelling "No future!" in the background. The second verse is Skiba's and it has so many Alkaline Trio vibes to the sound of his voice, it's insane and it meshes so well with all of the other characteristics in the song. If you decide to only listen to one song on the entire album, definitely consider this bad boy.
8. Home Is Such A Lonely Place
I'm sorry, but old blink-182 is what's up when it comes to acoustic and sad songs. It's hard for me to get as into this slow jam when I grew up listening to songs like "All Of This" and "Stay Together For The Kids." I don't know what it is, but I just feel like it's missing something. Perhaps it's missing the emo sound of Tom DeLonge's nasally voice. Who knows. All I know is that this is definitiely not one of my favorites from this album.
9. Kings Of The Weekend
This song gives me some serious All Time Low or 5 Seconds of Summer vibes, which is interesting since both groups are much younger than blink-182. I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing. I keep finding myself singing along, so it must be a good thing! The new, combined sound is definitely showcased in this song by showing off Barker's skills (again) alongside being able to hear Hoppus' bass line and the improvements with Skiba's guitar parts. In regards to the musical talent in this track, it's great and makes for a fun song to listen to.
10. Teenage Satellites
I absolutely love the chorus to this song. It makes me want to be in the middle of a crowd at a concert while dancing my heart out to it. They might be the furthest thing from "teenage satellites" but that's okay! I think it's been made very clear that Hoppus doesn't really act his age...what's his age again?
11. Left Alone
At first listen I couldn't help but realize how much more pop this song sounds than the others on the album. Although it has a more pop sound to it, it also has a killer chorus where Skiba gives his all. At about 2:15 there's a very familiar sound to it that links it right back to that self-titled blink-182 sound they continue to sprinkle throughout this new album.
12. Rabbit Hole
I can't necessarily put my finger on what I love so much about this song, but I LOVE it. It could be the compatability between the two voices or it could be yet another catchy AF chorus, or it could be both! All I know is that when I first heard this song I knew it would be one of my favorites on the album. The words are clever and the execution of the song is just wonderful.
13. San Diego
To me, this song has some big Skiba influence in it and I love it. Hoppus' favorite band, The Cure, is even mentioned in the chorus. If I didn't already love the addition of Skiba to the blink-182 lineup, this would be the song to convince me that it was a great idea to add him in the mix. This song has also got me counting down the days until I get to see them perform this album live, it's just that good.
14. The Only Thing That Matters
For some reason I can't help but think of "Another Girl, Another Planet" when I hear this song. I don't think they sound similar, I just get the same feeling while listening to them. It has a little bit of the newer sound to it, but Hoppus singing the chorus sounds a lot like some older blink-182. This song screams "pop-punk formula" to me if I ever heard one, that's for sure.
15. California
To be quite frank, I'm not a big fan of this one. I already find myself changing it when it comes up on my Spotify. What I do like about it is that you can tell by listening to the lyrics that it was written as a tip-of-the-hat to what founded blink-182, which was California. It's a nice way to thank all of the people that were there from the start in the place it all began, not to mention that "na na" made it's way into this track as well. I respect this track for the content and meaning, I'm just not a huge fan of the execution.
16. Brohemian Rhapsody
What would a blink album be if it didn't end with a 30 second song that slightly shows off the talent of the group with a smart remark like, "There's something about you that I can't quite put my finger in." The answer to that question is no, it wouldn't be an offical blink-182 album without the humor because why would you want to be serious all the time?
If you somehow haven't listened to the entire album 20 times yet, here's a link to the entire thing. What're you waiting for?! GIve it a listen!