There is always a sense of dread when an old band releases a new album. There’s the terror that it will be god awful and forever plague their pristine history. Great groups have easily turned from “that good band” to “that band that was good except for that terrible comeback album.”
Nope. In fact, Neighborhoods is one of their best albums yet and certainly one of the best punk albums of the last decade. A refreshing mix of new and classic blink, it is the evolution we’ve been waiting 6 years to hear.
The first track of Neighborhoods, “Ghost on the Dance Floor,” emanates a familiar blink riff with some innovated sound. The perfect start to the record, Tom’s “ghost” could almost be interpreted as blink-182 itself and the 6-year mourning following the hiatus.
The single, “Up all Night,” follows up with a pounding guitar riff fused with a Mark and Tom melody. “Natives” and “Heart’s All Gone” showcases their instrumental skill, the latter serving up drums only Travis could produce.
“Wishing Well” is upbeat yet cynical, a musical paradox blink has become especially good at over the years. The same can be found in “After Midnight,” a dysfunctional relationship portrayed in a happy-go-lucky light.
In the deluxe version three extra tracks can be found, including the increasingly popular “Snake Charmer.”
It’s definitely worth the extra few bucks, iTunes itself stating, “Neighborhoods continues to amplify blink-182’s naughty suburban-boy worldview.”
Any 90’s kid will knows all the words to “All the Small Things,” not only their biggest hit but inspiration for the hilarious Backstreet Boys parody video. My cousin, now 26, can recall the days when Dude Ranch (1997) was released and “Dammit” could be heard in hundreds of walkmans.
