COMEBACK: American pop punk rock band Blink-182 released California, their seventh studio album, on July 1, 2016.
By Jack Weggeland, Staff Writer
Much like The Beatles, Backstreet Boys and Genesis, the career of Blink-182 was too good to last. The Band faced an upsetting breakup when leading guitarist Tom DeLonge left his career in music in 2004 to pursue non-musical endeavors. In 2014, the band regrouped and created Neighborhoods and Dogs Eat Dogs. Despite this reformation, the band’s chemistry continued to suffer throughout the recording process of both albums due to communication issues and a fractured relationship from their previous breakup. In 2015, drummer Travis Barker and bassist Mark Hoppus issued a statement that DeLonge would “indefinitely” leave Blink.
Recent executive changes to the band had cast a cloud of uncertainty over the band’s ability to produce quality music; California is their first album after replacing original guitarist DeLonge with Matt Skiba, Alkaline Trio’s former guitarist. However, through this new album, Hoppus, Travis and Skiba prove that they are not willing to let any controversy affect their attitude toward their music, nor prevent them from making addictive earworms. In fact, their new album has lived up to the expectations of past award-winning albums such as Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. The group continues to write with their own signature flair, continuing their unique ability to create meaningful songs that resonate with the younger generation.
Here are five great comeback songs from California.
- “Cynical” – Cynical was the second-to-last song Barker, Hoppus and Skiba composed on the album. As they were observing the album prior to the song’s creation, they realized they had a mid-tempo album, like their 2001 album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and lacked an energizing track. As a result, they presented us with a fast tempo track that throws its listeners back to old school Blink-182 and the band’s early ‘95 album, Cheshire Cat.
- “Home Is Such A Lonely Place” – Unlike most of their mid to fast tempo tracks, “Home Is Such A Lonely Place” is a beautifully calm and slow acoustic masterpiece. The song expresses the versatility of the band as they momentarily turn off their immature personalities, capture their feelings, and successfully create an emotional indie style, cloudy day, bus window, tear-jerking song. The number provides a sense of balance and maturity to the album, similar to the way “Adam’s Song” added equilibrium to Enema of the State.
- “She’s Out Of Her Mind” and “Sober” – Both of these tracks are simply great. These earworms reflect the values the band has maintained since the beginning of their creation. It exemplifies why they are such a popular, long-lasting pop-punk band. These brilliant songs speak about guys, girls, and their awkward encounters and stories. These tracks have proven that, despite their age, the band is still able to produce music that is juvenile, humorous, relatable, and appealing to the younger generation.
- “Bored to Death” – There is a reason why Blink-182’s early release album track “Bored to Death” reached Number 1 on Billboard Alternative Chart; it’s simply amazing. It’s the perfect, classic Blink-182 song. The band uniquely delivers a message, as words sung by older individuals with more experience enrich lives, speaking directly to and through the perspective of our youth. The chorus captures its listeners on a personal level and strongly suggests that you should stray from the ordinary and create lifelong memories, through the words, “Save your breath, I’m nearly bored to death, and fading fast, life is too short to last long.”