Photo courtesy of IllaZilla via Wikimedia Commons.
Blink-182, a pop-punk staple, returns to the scene with the debut of their album “One More Time.”
By Sarah Berger ’27
Staff Writer
Pop-punk is back.
In the past two years, Paramore, Simple Plan and Taking Back Sunday have all released full-length albums. Say Anything, Green Day, Busted and Hawthorne Heights are coming out with new songs. Amidst the revival of a genre they helped pioneer, it only makes sense that Blink-182 would come back as well — though, to be fair, they’ve been consistently releasing since 1994.
The newly released “One More Time” is longer than most of their other albums, clocking in at 17 songs and two digital release bonuses. The album marks a reunion between three original members of the band, which has undergone several lineup changes throughout its life. It features Tom DeLonge on guitar, Travis Barker on drums and Mark Hoppus on bass, with all three members providing vocals. “One More Time” debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, an impressive feat for a band that has had such a long life.
The themes on the album are remarkably similar to those of their early work, which they began releasing nearly 30 years ago: sex, partying, more partying and rock ‘n’ roll. These are the topics you might expect from a group of twenty-something-year-olds, but by now, every member of the band has reached adulthood and had complex life experiences. The songs touch on adulthood, but only to mourn their lost youth.
In “CHILDHOOD,” they write that “Everybody seems so lost, I wanna leave / 2023, who the fuck are we?” The lackluster lyricism continues throughout the album. On “EDGING,” the lead single, Delonge barks, “I’m a punk rock kid / I came from hell with a curse.” On “BAD NEWS,” Hoppus laments, “I guess there’s no such thing as a happy ending.”
“One More Time,” the titular song, calls back to “I Miss You” from their 2003 album “Blink-182.” At the end of the song, just as the vocals begin to fade away, all three members of the band sing “I miss you” several times. The juxtaposition serves “One More Time” poorly. Whereas “I Miss You” was sweetly sentimental, its counterpart is syrupy and rings somewhat false compared to the rest of the album, which touches on themes of loss but doesn’t delve into them enough to land emotionally.
The lyrics are also edgy to the point of laughability. The slightly misogynistic “Turn This Off” begins with the lines “If you’re too sensitive, well turn this off / if you’re offended by these words, then please fuck off.” The last nine seconds of the 23-second song tell the story of a date with a disappointing end. The narrator then blames his sexual partner for his shortcomings.
The band's acknowledgment of their misogyny comes off as more like a half-hearted outrage grab than a genuine opinion or countercultural statement. Blink-182 has always been tongue-in-cheek, and they’ve never faced very much backlash for it. It’s unclear if they actually feel victimized or if they’re just trying to appeal to their perceived audience’s views.
That being said, the album can be fun. Songs like “DANCE WITH ME,” “EDGING” and “OTHER SIDE” have some of the snark the band is known for. They’re catchy, the type of songs that let you let yourself go and relax.
Yet the band’s earlier work, particularly prior to the 2010s, is slightly more interesting. They’re rougher, more emotive and more human. Strangely, on “One More Time,” Blink-182 has begun to sound more like its successors. The album is more Machine Gun Kelly, overproduced and soulless, than Sum 41, rough and explosive.
Perhaps it makes sense for the album to sound contemporary, but when the title itself is a reference to their past works, the listener expects to hear some of the same complex sounds in addition to similar themes. In the middle of a pop-punk resurgence, Blink-182 doesn’t bring anything different to the scene, even if they’re the ones who invented it.