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The M-Word
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Blink-182:
Blink-182
Geffen, 2003
Rating: 3.7
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Posted: December 12,
2003
By
Kevin Forest Moreau
Maturity. Its specter haunts Blink-182's self-titled release, a moody
song cycle about love and codependence. Blink-182 will come as
something of a shock to fans of the trio's punk-pop spitballs: Gone are
the frat-boy-friendly wallows in sexual innuendo, as well as boyish
power-pop cannonballs like "First Date" and "All the Small Things."
Instead, the band puts its considerable radio-friendly muscle behind
decidedly more serious enterprises, many of them lacking obvious hooks
(the melodies are decidedly lower-key and understated) but still retaining
a trademark serrated accessibility.
"Feeling This" is the closest the record gets to the Blink-182 familiar
to TRL fans, but even its catchy chorus is counterbalanced by a
sense of restless experimentation: Studio tricks and production effects
pop up intermittently, underscoring the album's overwhelming sense of
sonic diffusion. If all of this sounds off-putting, it's not, especially
after a few spins: Abrupt rockers like "Go" and "Easy Target" help to
anchor intriguing downbeat numbers like "Down," "Violence" and "Stockholm
Syndrome." And if those titles aren't enough to clue you in, suffice it to
say that the lyrical scope of these songs stretches far beyond puppy love
and the Afterschool Special seriousness of previous numbers like
the suicide lament "Adam's Song." The record seems to track the progress
of a dissolving relationship, and if the emotional level hovers around the
"Don't go I need you oh please God no" range, well, no one said the
maturation process was easy.
Surprisingly enough, two of the best tracks are atmospheric ballads --
the affecting "I Miss You" (whose chorus makes superb use of Tom Delonge's
love-it-or-hate-it nasal delivery) and the elegiac "All of This" (with a
cameo vocal by, of all people, The Cure's Robert Smith). That move alone
makes an unmistakable statement: Blink-182 is the band's attempt to
define (or perhaps redefine) itself. This is a bit ironic, given that the
album uses Boxcar Racer, 2002's side project by Delonge and nimble
drummer Travis Barker (increasingly proving he's the punk-pop
Neil
Peart), rather than the last couple of Blink records, as its template.
Blink-182 is a challenging listen, although not for the reasons
one usually associates with Blink-182 -- it'll be interesting to see
whether the album's respectable early sales will continue as hardcore fans
weigh in on its very different approach. Regardless, it's a commendable
effort, all the more so for its musical, lyrical and commercial risks. If
Delonge, Barker and singer-bassist Mark Hoppus are able to successfully
build on its promise while retaining their patented knack for crunchy,
singalong hooks, they'll stand a better than reasonable chance of
expanding their fan base exponentially to include aging Gen-Xers and even
Baby Boomers predisposed to a blend of melody and substance. To quote the
band's first hit, 1997's "Dammit": "I guess this is growing up."
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