Blink 182 - 'Blink 182' (Geffen)
3/5
By: Matt Tomiak
Four lines in, and already Tom DeLonge is declaring 'I wanna take off your clothes!' over a characteristically infectious thrashy din. But 'Feeling This', the first single to be lifted from the phenomenally successful Californian trio's seventh full album, and the track that opens it, is by no means indicative of what follows.
Yes - staggering as though it may seem for a band that made their name with snotty, sex-obsessed juvenile-rock - the '182 have, gulp, finally grown up.
Their last two studio albums, 1999's mega-breakthrough 'Enema of the State' and 2001's 'Take Off Your Pants & Jacket' were both unleashed here in the UK during the springtime, a fitting season for a bouncy, undemanding, pop-punk racket those records contained. A late-November release this time 'round seems appropriate for the far more reflective, well-honed noises that the band is now capable of producing.
The name's a dead giveaway - eponymous LP titles seem to suggest a self-consciously 'mature' approach. Remember when Supergrass did the same thing on their third and darkest-to-date album? Or Blur with their fifth, gritty, lo-fi opus? Those who have been partial to Blink's sugar-coated, instant candyfloss melodies (but always felt a bit embarrassed about it) will find much to appreciate here as the band do 'serious' for the first time.
A period spent by the boys developing a harder edge in side-projects Box Car Racer and The Transplants manifests itself throughout; the choruses remain as contagious as ever, but much of the often fairly intense lyrical content focuses on love and proper relationships. This is something Blink-182 were always capable of, but rarely attempted previously - favouring instead childish buffoonery and an unhealthy fascination with bodily functions... And, bloomin' heck, they've only gone and roped in Robert Smith to provide guest vocals on 'All Of This'... What were the chances that five years ago Blink would even consider recording such a longing, darkly atmospheric track with The Cure's frontman and imploring 'Come on and use me'?
There's even an almost-instrumental track, 'The Fallen Interlude', based around a sparse piano loop, whilst the gritty, pulsating 'Easy Target' roars with passion. It falters slightly mind, especially amid the mawkish opening to 'Stockholm Syndrome', via a syrupy female monologue ('I've read your letter through at least four times/And I will probably read it more times before I'm through' - a sentiment that would surely have had the band circa 'Enema Of The State', quite rightly, guffawing at its mushiness).
Granted, though, much of 'Blink-182' is genuinely touching. Closing proceedings is a six and a half-minute long widescreen ballad, 'I'm Lost Without You', complete with an epic closing solo from drummer Travis. There is one final 'bonus' track however, a live version of 'Anthem Part Two'; along with the vast majority of their back-catalogue, it serves to remind us that for all the concessions to adulthood that Blink-182 appear to have made throughout the course of this record, they're really just overgrown adolescents at heart.
Artists in this article: Blink 182
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