+44 - When Your Heart Stops Beating (Interscope)
4/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
Like most, nay all, Blink 182 fans, I've been excited by what 'the other' members of the band would do after their split in 2004. Tom DeLong quite obviously went on to form semi-instrumental rock opera mega group Angels and Airwaves, but while this nu-wave punk rock radiance was fast becoming one of the most talked about movements since The Transplants formed from the raging ashes of Rancid, Hoppus and Barker (when he wasn't making second rate reality TV shows) were banging away at what would become +44s debut album, 'When Your Heart Stops Beating'.
It may be a Blink rip off but let's be stern for a second here, these guys did comprise two thirds of Blink 182 so if anyone is allowed to be 'the next Blink' unquestionably it's them, and anything they produce, Blink like or not, should be regarded as a follow on to the band rather than a side step into something completely altered like DeLong's recent work. I guess the general point I'm trying to get across is; if you like Blink 182, you'll like these guys, and don't judge them for doing what they do best. There, that's the obligatory rant portion out of the way.
There is something missing from this album though, and tragically it is Tom's gravely, sometimes tongue in cheek vocals that always added extra depth to Blink's song-writing. There are however some seriously class tunes on here without aforementioned Tom-inoculation, namely '155' and 'Lycanthrope', the first of which is closer to the depths of what we love about the later Blink years and the latter resembling the spark that first attracted us to a band that was once classed as a Green Day cover group. Calming down before a furious climax in 'Lillian', Hoppus has a rare opportunity to articulate his own vocal range, something that never really had a chance to gleam through previously, constantly being referred to as the weaker singer he lost all the best vocal arrangements to his former partner.
The lyrics are what you'd expect from the Californians, more talk of summer, falling in love and inevitably getting all confused and distressed by sex and relationships. In 'Weatherman' (especially the bonus acoustic version) however, there are hints at what they were trying to do a few years ago during their collaboration with Cure frontman Robert Smith in 'All Of This', and that's take what's regarded as a polished, hollow, punk sound into something bitter and dirty. This continues into 'No It Isn't' and creates some of the most crucial listening on the album with some of the more extrovert and well constructed rock hammering and harmonies thrown across some brisk and very Barker like tinny drumming.
There are some bad edits and the odd track that thuds into the following one without much thought for mixing, but with rare moments of revelation like 'Make You Smile', their sins are instantly forgiven and you start to realise this as what it shouldn't be but wonderfully is; an amazing debut by a fantastic new band. With familiarity covering up a multitude of blunders that many naive bands would make, Hoppus and Barker have been allowed to make the uncontrived Blink album that never was. It may not have the occasion but it certainly has the spirit and talent, and for all the ol' fans that thought AVA were OTT, this is the one for them. It's straightforward, uncomplicated and a great listen that will hopefully be the first of many pieces of work to come from this astounding new band.
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