Blink-182 – “Happy Days” • Page 2

Interestingly, I can't hear "Generational Divide" without also hearing "Dogs Eating Dogs." The guitar tone is i-damn-dentical.

 

I can see that for sure. I like "Generational Divide" the most of the three singles but it's just way too short in my opinion.

 

Blink-182: drops new song
Me: (opening comments section)

 

It is okay. They just keep underwhelming me unfortunately. Hopefully the rest of the album is better than what we’ve heard so far

 

That's a negative Ghost-rider.......

 

I like it. Classic blink sound from Enema/TOYPAJ era.

 

I’m pleasantly surprised by this. Def can see this as “the other hidden track” on TOYPAJ

 

All three songs they've put out have been really boring. Feels like they're trending in the wrong direction.

 

Initially I thought this was pretty bad but now it's stuck in my head. Might just be a grower

 

I'm ok with it... enjoyable track.

Reminds me of a more upbeat "Story of A Lonely Guy" and "Stay Together for the Kids."

 

Tom’s return should shake things up

 

I like the artwork.. and, yeah.

 

Bit boring this one

 

Now here's a Happy Days song I can get behind. What a jam:

 

That’s kind of my thing with this band nowadays, as a whole... like Blink, what are YOU writing about? Ya know? Like what is their purpose for writing another record?

With Tom they were always moving forward... but now it’s like “let’s just reminisce about being kids/better days,” both lyrically and sonically, and it’s like that initial “drive” that propelled the band forward is gone... “let’s sound like we did in 2001, rather than sit on the cutting edge of pop-punk and do something nobody has ever heard before.”

It’s hard to explain, but it just doesn’t feel genuine these days... when they’re mimicking Tom’s old guitar tones to a T and trying to act like he’s still there... but not, at the same time. Idk man, it’s just messy.

Putting out Blame It On My Youth, fans are like “wtf is this” and then they come out with a 50 second song saying “are we better now?” Like it comes across as if they’re completely directionless and don’t have a solid handle (or trust) in what they’re doing at all.

Idk, to me it wasn’t the best of looks... just my opinion.

 

I wouldn’t mind if it sounded how it does if it was better than without Tom, but at least Blame It on My Youth was stuck in my head and forced me to come back to it. At least I’ve got AvA! Hopefully the rest of this album blows these songs out of the water

 

Shouldn't Tom be doing something cutting edge for that to hold any water? Refers to his love interest as "little" for the whatever-th time and anybody who listened to Rebel Girl the first time instantly could sing along "da-da-da we were brokenhearted" lol

 

Nowadays blink is nothing more than a dead goldfish spinning around a toilet bowl.

 

Rebel Girl definitely sticks in your head more than this song did. Didn’t say it was cutting edge. Just saying that there is usually SOMETHING a little different with AvA’s albums from the album before. This is just California Pt. 2 (3? Considering the deluxe was another album almost).

Simple Creatures proves that Mark can do other stuff, so idk what the issue is with Blink. Maybe just milking the cash cow for all it is worth? Who knows

 

Think I've enjoyed this one the most out of the three released. Definitely ready to hear more.

 

Rebel Girl yeah, it was just a solid single... Nothing crazy, or out of their wheelhouse. But for me, it's more like the general AVA sound shows that "progression"... like for an artist with punk/pop roots, Tom's sound/songwriting has morphed somewhere a ways "beyond" that, if you know what I mean. I think AVA can definitely approach that "cutting edge" territory with some of their material, for what they are... Other times they slip to the wayside, or put out something a bit off-base or corny, but they have moments of brilliance. But I at least feel like I can at least see a bit of their/Tom's influence on the alternative/pop-punk scene since they've been around, as if other bands are looking to them/catching up to them. Again, it's hard to explain... no band out there is ever gonna pull off "AVA" like Tom does.

Now with Blink, they're just sounding as standard "pop-punk" as ever... almost as if it's their mission to sound like 35 other bands could've put out the same song. And to be fair, I can look back on (+44) and man, a lot of those songs had some real shit behind them. I think Chapter 13 was still probably a career highlight for Mark... that song feels so raw and heavy to this day. Just GOOD... better than anything "California" Blink and on, IMO...

Not that (+44) was anything ground-breaking either, but Mark really had some stuff weighing him down back then, something real to write about, and it clearly shows... So even if they aren't going to get weird and try some crazy new sound that is at the forefront of pop-punk, where is THAT Mark? THAT Blink 182, right now?

I don't mean to get long-winded over this lol but lately I've just really wondered, like what is Blink in 2019 even trying to achieve? Idk...

 

For me, none of the new songs have any staying power - musically, lyrically, emotionally. I'll probably skip all 3 of these tracks when the album comes out. Really hoping for the rest of the album to contain songs that mean something to me and/or have something interesting musically or new.

 

Some directions I wish they'd consistently explore over a full album rather than just sounding like reheated pop punk:

1.) A darker, more electronic sound like Skiba's Heavens.
2.) You have one of the best drummers, why not go super beat and loop driven, perhaps lightly informed by some of the +44 material?
3.) Something kinetic and post-punk, kind of like the more uptempo songs on Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. Again, utilize Barker.
4.) Darker new wave'ish sound, comparable to Joy Division.

I feel like any of these sounds, while nothing profoundly new, would be well within their songwriting abilities and would be a welcome change.

 

I agree on all counts haha. I’m not dying for anything ground breaking, just something different for the band itself, or at least a forward progression of any kind. Nothing is more deflating then waiting for an album, and having it sound exactly like the previous one