off chasing UFOs<\/a> (and experiencing much friction with his former bandmates), the trio of frontman Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker is rounded out here by guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. Even amid the fracas, the songs here are refreshingly tight, taking what the band has always done well \u2013 big, catchy choruses, throbbing drums and high-voltage guitars \u2013 and injecting some attempts at lyrical growth. Take opener \u201cCynical,\u201d which launches out with Hoppus\u2019s distinctive voice sounding slightly tentative as he says, \u201cThere\u2019s a cynical feeling saying I should give up \/ You\u2019ve said everything you\u2019ll ever say.\u201d But it\u2019s a moment of self-doubt that doesn\u2019t last too long: there\u2019s a brief moment of silence before the lightning-fast drum and guitar assault kicks in and Hoppus delivers his snarky kiss-off of a refrain: \u201cI\u2019m sorry I\u2019m not sorry now!\u201d <\/p>\nIt\u2019s easy to see how Blink-182 established their pop punk reign in the \u201890s, spawning the likes of Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and All Time Low with their sometimes ridiculous but always highly accessible template. And they show no real signs of fading on California<\/i>, their first to feature producer John Feldmann in place of longtime collaborator Jerry Finn. <\/i>Lead single \u201cBored To Death\u201d is an infectious jam, dynamic in its build and sprawling with harmonies. I\u2019ve woken up with it stuck in my head for the past few mornings, so it\u2019s got that going as well. <\/p>\n
The Blink dudes are at their best when they\u2019ve got all the pistons firing, like on the rowdy ode to an \u201cantisocial angel,\u201d \u201cShe\u2019s Out Of Her Mind,\u201d the slick and thrashing \u201cRabbit Hole,\u201d and the all-too brief glimpse of a love song, \u201cThe Only Thing That Matters.\u201d But to their credit, they do explore some slower tones, going full power-ballad on \u201cHome Is Such A Lonely Place,\u201d which strikes a similar vibe to their \u201cAdam\u2019s Song\u201d hey-dey. \u201cCalifornia\u201d tries this to a lesser effect \u2013 it captures the languor of its namesake state, but also some of the mundaneness as well. Meanwhile, \u201cSan Diego\u201d engages in a bit too much navel-gazing; it\u2019s utterly catchy (despite directly swiping the riff from \u201cBored To Death\u201d) but the lyrics reach for meaningful and instead settle for meandering and melodramatic (\u201cSometimes I feel like I\u2019m the oxygen between \/ The cigarette and gasoline \/ I can\u2019t sleep \u2018cause what if I dream?\u201d). <\/p>\n
But in true Blink-182 fashion, they manage to wedge in some full-on ridiculousness to counterpoint the broad proclamations: see end-cut \u201cBrohemian Rhapsody,\u201d which turns out to be a 30-second, all-out explosion of guitars and drums with the Auto-Tuned quip, \u201cThere\u2019s something about you \/ That I can\u2019t quite put my finger in.\u201d I was hoping for even more bang for the buck, especially with such an excellent title, but it\u2019s feels like an earned way to get a laugh at the end of a rollicking disc. <\/p>\n
California <\/i>does well at striking a nice balance between humor and self-growth; though it can be heavy-handed at times, it\u2019s still the sign of a band trying out new things rather than retreading the same path. While some of the tracks land better than others, there\u2019s enough diversity of material here that it stays entertaining throughout. And while this won\u2019t fortify you with any real lyrical depth whatsoever, it\u2019s certainly a delicious, sticky-sweet Popsicle of an album guaranteed to keep you rocking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":32789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6505],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44561","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-blink-182","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44561"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}