For some generations, it’s Simon & Garfunkel. For Millennials, it is The Mark, Tom & Travis Show™. They’re a definitive group of musicians that have come to define their era to such a degree that their absence continues to be commented on. No matter what, people will complain that Blink-182 ain’t what it used to be. Even as Travis Barker has become an in demand drummer for just about everybody, the Post-“Neighborhoods” output has been a bit confusing to those who believe that the band is the essential three from classics like “Enema of the State,” especially with The Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba filling in the gaps. I have no issue with Skiba as a person, but it’s one of the major reasons that I’ve been hesitant to listen to any of those albums.
So of course people went wild when it was announced that for the first time in a near-decade that guitarist/singer Tom Delonge was rejoining the band. Given how Angels & Airwaves saw him move in a more ambitious direction, it was one of the reunions nobody expected but many hoped for. It left many to wonder what the reboot was going to look like and if they could, in fact, capture the magic that made them superstars in the first place.
As much as I would love to be on that bandwagon, I remain hesitant. Despite great effort by many, I feel like mainstream rock music hasn’t been consistently interesting for the past decade. While I don’t fault anyone who actually likes those Top 40 bands, there isn’t enough personality and authenticity there for me to hop on board and find a new love. I understand why groups like Green Day and Blink-182 take wild swings in order to try and stay relevant. While the former did so at the cost of looking like bitter old men, I still have some faith that Blink-182 is doing it for themselves. I may not like it, but that’s beside the point.
Still, I would love to imagine that the new Blink-182 would recapture the magic. I’ll briefly run down my relationship with the band. When I was 12, I would go to places like Target and see copies of “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket” on shelves, somehow being entranced by its minimalist artwork and dark wardrobe choices. It’s one of those records that never escaped my attention and I eventually bought a censored copy of it at a Las Vegas strip mall and history was made. “Blink-182” the album came out when I was in middle school and took me to a new world. By high school, they disbanded for the first time and I immediately played “What Went Wrong” in somber memorial. When they reunited, I saw them play a bill with Weezer and Asher Roth where Barker did a drum solo on an elevated and rotating stage. It was a good night, even if most people I went with agreed that “Neighborhoods” wasn’t the best album.
Other than that, my only real exposure to “new” Blink-182 came through the guise of a podcast called Blink-155 which remains a fascinating deconstruction of band and legacy. If nothing else, it’s what gave me newfound affection for something like “Neighborhoods” and realized the difficulty of being a band going upon their third decade in the industry that was known for making humor for people half that age. Even with two really good records that weren’t deep seeded in juvenile humor, I just knew that this reunion would see them slide back to the means because that’s who they were. Go to their live show and you’ll see that their banter between songs is referencing The Big Lebowski (1998) and picking on each other’s shortcomings. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s why I wince at seeing their first major release be called “Edging.”
With full transparency, I will admit that I have become a boring person over the years. Those preparing to mock me for saying that I didn’t like “Edging” should know that. I’ll give Mark Hoppus credit for continuing to be seemingly youthful, but there is something about this whole endeavor at this point that makes me hope this is a misdirect. When my first reaction is “It’s surreal to think that they were more mature when I was in middle school,” I feel like I’m missing the point. This is just a fun song meant to make people happy. The music video should confirm this. And yet, there is something a tad disappointing about realizing that I’m not a fan of hearing Delonge sing about being a punk rock kid who came from hell with a curse. Maybe I think it’s just tacky to hear 46-year-olds sing something that juvenile, I don’t know. Or maybe I was just hoping when I heard those blast beats reminiscent of “Feeling This” that it would be this wild adventure into experimentalism again.
If taken solely as a song without any greater context, I can see the appeal of what it’s going for. The chorus has enough bounce to make you remember it by the time it comes back around. There’s enough melody and care put into making you feel connected with it. However, I think one of the things holding it back is that very little of it sounds like a Blink-182 song otherwise. Maybe this is evidence that they’re moving into slower and more challenging directions, but the guitars especially don’t grab me with that punchy hook that they often pulled out of nowhere. The difference is that because of this, I’m not invested in the song even for its short running time, eventually just wanting something more interesting to happen. Maybe the sporadic background cursing is supposed to be it, but there’s too much calculation at this point. It sounds like it wants to be a “We’re back!” statement without making a good enough rallying cry to make the encore anticipatory.
I’m sure that I will hear it a ton on the radio, especially as the band begins to do their reunion tour. Still, given how little of their newer stuff is played regularly, one has to wonder if any of this will actually matter in the greater picture. It feels like the band has become a legacy act, and it’s reflective of every decision that they made in releasing this song. From the simple reunion of The Mark, Tom & Travis Show™ to an interpolation of “Story of a Lonely Guy,” there’s a lot of metatextual evidence here that this is meant for the fans. Delonge is playing his Box Car Racer guitar. They’re fighting rabbits designed not unlike their famous logo. There’s a sense of complacency that I understand at this point, but also wish their album to be more than a reminder of how they used to make music videos about streaking.
What do they really have to prove at this point? Much like how nobody cares about any of The Rolling Stone albums released in the 21st century, one has to wonder if a legacy act needs to release new material for any other reason other than impulse (and money). With that said, I hope whatever they make feels substantial to what the band wants to say and not some calculated act to appease what the audience expects. If we end up getting another “Neighborhoods,” I won’t be all that mad. I would like it to be a little better than that, but there was something thrilling about hearing them grow into a more mature act while holding onto those pop-punk hooks and using crazy imagery that complimented it. As tragic as it sounds, they can coast by playing the hits for the rest of their careers, but I would love to think that Hoppus is writing more than juvenile lyrics that now sound like very sad dad jokes than the brilliant epiphanies they did 20 years ago.
To be fair, I have all faith that Blink-182 in the interim has had an underlying maturity to some of their songs. I haven’t listened to many of them, but part of their appeal was how they swung between humor and sincerity so effortlessly. It’s been one of the few things that have given them longevity. While I don’t see “Edging” being an essential song in their catalog and it does make me disappointed that this was their grand return, I still want to believe that it’s more that the sonic design is just not exciting to me. There’s little here that feels like the work of three artists who have wildly different interests than they did in 2003. I want something that feels reflective of these men aging into something weirder. I guess I just want a rock record that actually makes me curious about the craft again.
With all of this said, the only thing that I remain upset about is the controversy around their tour. Apparently, there’s an issue regarding Ticketmaster and pricing where many shows are in the triple and even quadruple digits for amphitheater seating. I will admit that it’s one of the other things that have been consistent since I saw them many years ago. I didn’t have those issues, but I can imagine those eager to see this will. My sympathies go out to you because they do put on a fun show and I can imagine that they’ll be a lot more exuberant since they haven’t toured together in eons. I wish you luck on your ticket acquiring adventures.
I recognize that I spent a lot of time complaining about what Blink-182 is and isn’t, but I’ll admit that there was something exciting about the potential for the band coming out of the gate strong. Imagine feeling that same thrill from middle school when they were pushing boundaries and reminding us to not settle on conventionality. For all I know, that’s what this record will be. “Edging” is just one song (though not my favorite) and hopefully not a reflection of what’s to come. This is one of those reunions that I’m sure I’ll be hearing more about down the line. I can only hope it’s for good reasons.
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