One of the tricky things about bands reuniting after years apart is that even if they went out on top, they rarely truly pick up where they left off. Blink 182's self-titled 2003 album was one of the more unlikely entries on my my top 100 albums of the '00s, a percussion-heavy production showcase of weird hooky power emo. But I figured it was naive or wishful thinking to expect them to return to that sound, which wasn't really the one they were most identified with, for their new album Neighborhoods, after all those years of the members being apart and starring in TV shows and making rap albums and playing in that horrible Angels & Airwaves band.

Neighborhoods is actually closer to Blink 182 than I'd figured on, with Travis Barker's busy loops and bombastic fills still dominating the mix and the songs leaning more towards grandiose arena rock than lean punk pop. But the underwhelming lead single "Up All Night" illustrates exactly how badly this sound can turn out if the songs aren't there, and while that track is one of the low points of the album, the high points aren't a total triumph either. Tom Delonge's enunciation is as entertainingly bizarre as ever, but his singing voice is kind of strangely, unpleasantly weathered, and the more listenable voice of the band, Mark Hoppus, isn't in top form either. Thankfully, the album gets better as it goes along, with the convincing Dude Ranch throwback "Heart's All Gone," and my favorite track, "Wishing Well," perhaps the most seamless combination yet of pop punk early Blink and Cure-worshipping drum-crazy later Blink.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 8:15 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.