Saturday, April 30, 2016

"Bored To Death" - The Birth of a New Blink Era

The one thing that would draw me back into the blogging world: new Blink-182. After a lengthy absence of new material and more than enough drama, the world finally gets to hear what the new Blink lineup, sans Tom Delonge and including the newest member, ex-Alkaline Trio Matt Skiba. It premiered on the radio Wednesday, and has been taking the Internet by storm since, as well as the announcement of the upcoming tour with A Day To Remember, All Time Low, and The All American Rejects (trying not to freak out and failing). 

The build up to this song had been pretty intense. The band imploded last year (for more of my thoughts see this post) and from the ashes emerged the two sides: Tom and his solo projects, and Mark and Travis determined to put all their effort into making Blink what they thought it should be. Tensions have been up and down since, but it appears that the members are still on good terms, and a future of the original line up is still a possibility. 

However, the new song is the topic at hand. I'll be honest, I was apprehensive about the new lineup. I know that bands go through lineup changes, but Blink has been one of my favorites for a very long time. And the vocalists are what help give bands their uniqueness, one of the features that provides distinction from other bands. So I was a bit removed from the waiting process, not really feeling excited about the new material because of the changes.

When I first heard the new song, I was in the car on my way to Disneyland. I happened to be listening to the right station for the world premiere of the song, and found myself in a state of shock that I was hearing it. They played it twice, back to back, and after the end of the second play, I found the reason for my shock shifting.

I was shocked with how much I liked it.

It's a really great song. It feels like Blink, with some hints of Box Car Racer and +44 mixed in (naturally). The intro guitar riff does feel a little too much like "Adam's Song" (go do a side by side listen and tell me they're not related). But the chorus is huge, the verses keep the pace up, and the bridge is this slow building cacophony - but in a good way. Matt Skiba fits very naturally into the sound of the group as well. I think the big part for me that made it sound so good is that it felt like they were pleased with the product they had produced. They had focused and worked hard, which is something that didn't happen as well with Neighborhoods

I found myself feeling a bit ashamed of how anxious I was about the song, and stubborn in my thinking that it wouldn't be as great without Tom. The original lineup will always hold a special place in my heart, but I'm excited for this new future, and what's in store for this band.