So here | am, are you ready?
Nearly a decade later and Blink-182 still has it

By Kyle Wallis

OOO@!

fter waiting eight years for Blink-
182’s Neighborhoods, | finally got the
hance to indulge some of my middle
school tendencies last week. The band had put
off the release date about ten times... okay,
maybe I exaggerate a little, but it was expected
to be released back in May, which eventually
became the last week of September. So I was
anxious to see if the trio of punk poets had been
using their time wisely, or just procrastinating.
To some extent, it tumed out be a little bit of
both.
My first thought after listing to

Neighborhoods went something like, “wow,
that’s darker than usual” —a reasonable

response. For a band so troubled by broken
friendships and near-death experiences,
approaching their newest album must have
brought back some demons. The first single,
“Up All Night,” reflects those feelings: “Let
me get this straight, do you want me here/As I
struggle through, each and every year.”

song into something instantly memorable.
Musically, the trio is still as technical and
brilliant as ever. I really have to give props to
Travis Barker’s drumming; that guy continues
to astound with both his technicality (“After
Midnight’) and his ability to keep up fast beats
(“Heart’s All Gone’). Bassist Mark Hoppus

“The album is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s still pretty
good. For a band that hasn’t recorded anything together in almost a decade,
Neighborhoods is a solid effort.”

The band doesn’t let this gloomy feeling
dominate the album though. Some of the songs
are still as pop happy as ever, such as “Wishing
Well,” which has a very evident jump and
groove beat coming from the drums and bass.
With some collaborative and catchy vocal
contributions, “Wishing Well” captures Blink’s
ability to make what could just be any other

and guitarist/lead singer Tom DeLonge play off
each other well, with one consistently keeping
the rhythm and the other complementing with
background melodies. These guys keep coming
up with good songs time after time, sticking to
their usual song structure, but keeping it fresh
by exploring themselves in their lyrics.

My only criticism is that some of the

Bid

songs are a little too tailored to fit the same
format. Songs like “Hearts All Gone” and “This
Is Home” revolve a bit too much around the
standard intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-end
song pattern. This makes me feel like the guys
were just trying to push out a few more songs
for the sake of album length. With that said, the
issue doesn’t impede on the overall product too
much; it’s Blink-182, what can you expect?
The album is not perfect by any stretch
of the imagination, but it’s still pretty good.
For a band that hasn’t recorded anything
together in almost a decade, Neighborhoods
is a solid effort. The band also chose not to
work with an outside producer, which deserves
commendation. Was it as good as their last
couple albums? No, but did this album make
me miss the good old days? Not really. Blink-
182 is still their punk pop selves, just a little
more mature.

 

Ful rst Zirqe

us what you '

ce-with

Facebook.com/quittersunite

ate

ia
So many shoes!!! lol