Little C: Thank God For Punk Rock Bands

Hello readers! It's either obnoxiously early or stupidly late, depending on if you're a morning person or a human being. I'm up this early because in a few short hours CT and I are getting on a plane to go back to the wide open spaces of the Rocky Mountain region for a few days. So in an effort to avoid another week of awkwardly working in another punishment word, I have decided that sleep is for the weak and I will just power through and write my post pre airport.

It finally happened you guys. The new Blink 182 album (featuring Matt Skiba) came out on Friday. You guys. I wasn't prepared. In my heart. For the amount of love I was going to experience for this band. And I've loved them with the love of a 14 year old girl which knows no bounds and recognizes no restraining orders. It's been 13 years since these guys put out an album I enjoyed but since 2003's self titled is my current dessert island album I would have given them as many chances as they needed to put themselves back together. They've finally done it.

Behold. It is glorious

There's a lot to unpack here, so I'm going to go track by track but I wanted to preface this by letting you guys know that if Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker had called me to ask me for who I thought they should replace Tom with while he was off having his little meltdown I would have passes out from excitement. But when I woke up and stopped crying I would have suggested Matt Skiba. He's a punk genius and his inclusion in this band is like the universe giving me a present I didn't even know I needed. Let's begin 

1) Cynical

Got to hand it to Mark. He understood that there's an elephant in the room when a band replaces a founding member after two decades. And California addresses the issue right off the bat. And it does to to a burst of slick punk chords and a drum solo that dreams are made of... I played this for CT the other day and she pointed out right away "This sounds like them." She's right and considering that the two albums I will now pretend don't exist failed this simple test, I'd say we're off to a perfect start. 

2) Bored to Death

This one makes me so happy. It's their first single and it proves right away that Mark and Skiba can work well together with their vocals blending perfectly and their lyrics flowing perfectly into a 3 minute powerhouse. 

3) She's Out of Her Mind

And this quickly the guys come in to remind us that at their heart Blink has always been a fun pop-punk band. And that Skiba can write the shit out of a chorus. 

4) Los Angeles

This song is a dark relief from the sunny chords of the song before it. It's a dancy melody and lyrics about urban decay that feels almost insidious in it's production. Skiba is no stranger to darker themes but it's nice to know that after a few years of phoning in his song writing (I'm honest because I care guys) Mark is stepping up his game on the tougher songs. 

5)Sober

If you played me this song with absolutely no context I would have guessed that it was Mark covering a Fall Out Boy song. Turns out when you call in Patrick Stump to cowrite, he adds a very distinctive style and helps provide the most clever lyrics on the album. Also this is the latest entry in my private game of "everyone I love is friends without me" BINGO. It's the game where winning feels like losing but at least I got this song out of it. 

6)Built This Pool

Joke track. Bonus points for having Skiba asked "Is that really it?" at the end. I giggled which was the whole point. 

7) No Future

I'm gonna be brief here, this is the only song on the album I don't really like. And I'm torn because if they had left it off it would be a perfect album but if it were a perfect album I would suspect them of being robots... 

8) Home Is Such a Lonely Place

This one feels emotionally waaaaay different from the rest of the album but it's fucking lovely. Also Damn you Mark Hoppus for making me feel bad for growing up and moving away from my parents. I gotta go call my Mom. I don't talk to her enough. 

9) Kings of the Weekend

I will forever be a sucker for songs about blowing off steam at concerts as that is my happy place. Also pulled the title of this post from the lyrics for this one. If it were any lesser band this song would feel grandiose but with a career that spans two and a half decades I'm going to go ahead and say they earned this one. 

10) Teenage Satellites

What could have been kind of a throwaway love song under the direction of a lesser producer, this song really benefits from John Feldman knowing exactly how to build moments for each band member to shine. The man's kind of a wizard and I both love and fear him. 

11) Left Alone

This one is my favorite. Structurally it's got a catchy groove and a killer halftime 2nd chorus but non of that eclipses the way Skiba scream sings his parts. It's both the best qualities of 2001 era Blink and Alkaline Trio. And these are a few of my favorite things...

12) Rabbit Hole

After a run of songs that have a lot of space in their sound and production, Rabbit Hole comes pounding in with a straightforward four chord punk slam. It's a fast 2 1/2 minutes and it sounds very much like the Blink of my teenage years. 

13) San Diego 

For a guitarist with a radically different style, Skiba adapted to Blink really well. Between his simple riffs and Mark's very distinctive bass chords, this has all the hallmarks of an old style song for them. Except the lyrics are about dealing with the fallout of Tom's departure which gives the song weight. 

14) The Only Thing That Matters

My god I love this song. It's fast and fun and sounds like it would fit comfortably in either the Blink or the Trio back catalogue. I'm hoping for more like this on their future endeavors, cuz this as the kids say, is my jam.

15) California 

This is the last real song on the album, and it's both a love letter to the state and an open acknowledgement that it's not the perfect paradise of sunshine and palm trees that everyone thinks. It's slower, almost a dirge at the funeral of a summer. Sorry i got nonsensical. I'm finishing this post after flying back to CO and too tired to make sense. 

16) Brohemia Rhapsody 

Such a fun album couldn't end on a downer so here we go with a sex joke. Bless. 

Gotta run, happy listening!

Little C