blink-182 fans are rolling out of bed, sore and with weird new aches, to a new album.
They highly hyped 9th album One More Time… is out today.
This is the first classic lineup blink record featuring Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, and Tom DeLonge in over a decade. The band has delivered a more mature, introspective take on their classic So-Cal pop punk sound. We’ve already heard the singles “Edging” and “One More Time.” With the release, the band also shared a new single called “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got.” The title alone should tell you that you’ll be hearing another song similar to “One More Time.”
This is not the first reunion from the band. They gave it a go after the near death experience Travis Barker went through when a plane he was flying on crashed during takeoff, killing four people in 2008. Barker suffered extreme second and third degree burns, many surgeries, and mental health trauma. The other survivor from that crash, Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, a would die a year later of a drug overdose.
The band released the album Neighborhoods and the ep Dogs Eating Dogs during that time. They began recording California during that era but Tom DeLonge left again and was replaced by Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba in 2014.
The reunion is feeling a little more real. The band is enjoying a phenomenal resurgence in popularity and the guys at least appear outwardly to be getting along.
The record is a nostalgic trip for sure with call backs to the bands history. It can be pretty on-the nose like in the lyrics to their current monster single “One More Time,” ““I wish they’d told us/It shouldn’t take a sickness/Or airplanes falling from the sky,” where the band touches on Barker’s plane crash and Mark Hoppus’ more recent battle with cancer.
The band starts the record with a third “Anthem.” The previous two being found on a couple of their most popular albums, Enema of The State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
The record also appears to feature a riff off Dogs Eating Dog song “When I Was Young.” The update having the simple title “When We Were Young.” Lyrically the song is similar but might be more of a sequel than an update or re recording to my ear.
There is also a nice mature love song for all you aging scene kids that are still smooshing between hustling the kids to soccer practice and figuring out who is stopping to pick up some groceries after work.
One More Time also features a few trashy punk moments that take me back to Dude Ranchera blink. They have a couple songs that barely clock in at 30 seconds with “TURN THIS OFF” and “FUCK FACE.” The song “HURT (Interlude)” gives me some Angles and Airwaves energy…but in only a minute and half and not 6 minutes like an A&A song.
blink-182, emerged from the Southern California punk rock scene in the early 1990s. Formed in Poway, California, by guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, the band initially gained local recognition for their energetic live performances and raw, irreverent sound. After a few lineup changes, including the replacement of Raynor with Travis Barker, they found mainstream success with their 1999 album Enema of the State, which featured hits like “All the Small Things” and “What’s My Age Again?” blink-182 played a pivotal role in popularizing pop-punk and skate punk, becoming a cultural phenomenon with their humorous, relatable lyrics and catchy melodies. Over the years, they continued to evolve their sound, achieving enduring influence on the punk and alternative rock genres.
Do you have a favourite song from the album? Post it in the comments.
Go with yourself.
The Morning After 