Blink 182’s Newest Release Is Their Best In Years

As Blink prepares to drop One More Time Pt. II, they released “No Fun” as one of two new tracks.

While I may spend a lot of time writing about punk music and bands like Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, and NOFX, I still have a soft spot for pop punk. This is especially true for Blink-182, who have always struck a chord with me for their immature, but oftentimes still emotionally charged lyrics. There are few bands who can tackle the challenges of growing up better than Blink, and I think that’s ultimately what has kept the band on my radar over the past few years.

I was especially stoked about Tom rejoining the band, and the media frenzy that surrounded the reunion, new album, and tour has been a prolonged pop punk party. I even got a shiny new Tom DeLonge Stratocaster, which has been a favorite of mine despite some early bumps in the road from Fender’s QC team. I’m still debating a Starcaster, but for now the Strat has me satisfied. I also got the chance to see Blink over the summer when they played at Fenway park, and the band did not disappoint.

One More Time

None of that is as exciting however as their new album was for me, which saw the band instantly go back to their roots. Tom’s addition back into the band brought guitar riffs and big hooks back in a big way. While I do like the “California” album, it lacked any big Blink riffs or memorable guitar hooks, while the subsequent releases were just not interesting to me. But “One More Time” has a ton of amazing guitar tracks like singles “More Than You Know” and “Dance With Me”, plus deeper cuts “Bad News” and “Turpentine”.

But man, the best track of this whole era of Blink may have just been released in the run up to the extended version of the album; “One More Time Part II”. Blink’s latest release includes two songs titled “No Fun” and “All In My Head”. While I do like the latter song, “No Fun” is a certified banger that is the current era of Blink’s “Man Overboard” or “Roller Coaster”.

This is a huge jump back in time, in a good way, to the “Take Off Your Pants And Jacket” or “Mark, Tom, and Travis Show” era. Melodic yet simple guitar hook to lead the song in, subdued verse dealing with emotional topic, but delivered in a poppy, infectious manner. All of that then leads into a hugely catchy chorus. It is delivered in a glossier, more produced package, but it works with this older, more refined album.

As stupid as it may sound, this song hits incredibly hard as a dude in his twenties who absolutely hates the adult world. This is really one of Tom’s strongest lyrical performances in a long time, with some specific lines like:

“Your job is never good enough, or cool enough. There’s never passion in a deadly routine. Secretly I say it, yeah I admit it, I kinda think that I just did the same thing”

Very simple, straightforward lyrics, as Tom is certainly no Greg Graffin. But sometimes you need something put so bluntly and directly to let it sink in. It seems even rock stars and UFO experts can get tired of the same every day life, responsibilities, and routine of adult life.

Even the punk rock genre catches a stray in the song, with the lines:

“When punk was independent. And then it wasn’t. When everyone became a part of that scene”

I don’t think this is Blink critiquing punk so much as it is critiquing the music industry’s handling of punk and the implosion of the genre during the ’90s and early 2000s. As if the lyrics aren’t clear enough, Tom is openly longing for when he was 18 and the band was playing in vibrant local SoCal scenes.

The most obvious point of this song is that life has gotten less fun. “There’s no fun anymore” is the hook of the whole song, and whether that is in reference to Tom’s life, the music scene, or America writ large, it doesn’t really matter. The truth is, a lot of things haven’t been very fun in this ultra polarized, ultra paranoid, and ultra sensitive country. And that’s coming from a guy who is a very progressive liberal. But hey, can we go back to laughing a few jokes now and then? Maybe Tom should run for president on a joint UFO-Fun platform. Either way, this is an incredible song and just the thing to listen to as you mourn the end of another summer of working your 9-5 job….

Also shout out to this dude who already nailed the parts!