He ‘What’s My Age Again?‘ of Blink-182 has had many meanings throughout his career. It was a blessing when in its beginnings it made them sound all over the world, but with a bittersweet side when years later the cervical strains stalked both the band and its audience. With the decline in popularity of pop-punk, added to their comings and goings as a group, it seemed that bothBlink-182 how his fans had become too old to sing songs with that audacity that we lose after adolescence. Now, after nine studio albums, those eternal adolescent anthems become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
‘One More Time…’, the tenth album of Blink-182 and which marks the return of Tom Delonge, continues to wonder what it means to get older. They do it by looking at the past, yes, but without falling into self-congratulatory nostalgia. After so many years, Californians have found the answer to their big question: age is relative. One can grow older and still be a teenager at heart, as demonstrated in the 17 tracks on the album.
A long-awaited return can have many counterpoints, resulting in a collection of discards that were rejected at the time for good reason, or it can become a desperate attempt to get closer to the most fashionable sounds in the worst possible way. Luckily, and being an album that is far from perfect, ‘One More Time..’ He manages to overcome his flaws with grace. Nostalgia pills like “Edging”, “When we were Young” or ‘Anthem part3’ are winning with listens and show off Travis Barker’s skill on drums to capture longtime fans. Once they have our attention, Blink-182 They exhibit their ability to revisit their legacy and offer us a different flavor. Batches of songs like “Terrified” (demo of Tom Delonge’s side project, Box Car Racer) and “Turpentine” choose to look clearly at the band’s self-titled album, with some glimpses of the more mature ‘Neighbourhoods’ (11). Blink-182 They know the ingredients of the recipe perfectly, but every neighbor’s son can get into trouble with the sugar. Proof of this is the ‘Olé olé’ in the chorus of “Dance With Me” that will raise more than one eyebrow or the cloying ‘Fell in Love’
Getting older is also about losing complexes, fears and leaving behind old quarrels that over time make no sense.. ‘One More Time…’ shows, like never before, the most vulnerable side of the band, with some of its most personal lyrics. Without being able to label themselves experimental, they venture to flirt with synthesizers to adopt them in their sound in “Childhood” and the echoes of tweenty one pilots in its chorus, and then fearlessly embrace its older school punk roots in the frenetic “F*ckface”.
Although gray hair has always had a negative connotation in pop punk, Blink-182 They turn it around and try one more time.