Album: “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket [PA]”

Description

Blink 182: Tom DeLonge (vocals, guitar); Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass); Travis Barker (drums). Additional personnel: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keyboards). Recorded at Signature Sound, San Diego, California, Larrabee Studios West, Cello Studios, Hollywood, California. Website: www.blink182.com Older and more successful but no less fascinated by the same things as their adolescent fan base (toilet humor, sex, and awkward social situations), Mark, Tom and Travis greet 2001 with another platter's worth of chugging guitar riffs, infectious hooks and plenty of moxie. The album opens with the sequel to the last cut on ENEMA OF THE STATE. "Anthem Part II" is a generational rant focusing on the hopelessness felt by teens taken lightly by the world because of their age. Blink 182 does a fine job tapping into the universal theme of unrequited love ("Story Of A Lonely Boy"), divorce ("Stay Together For The Kids") and surviving the social perils of high school cliques ("Give Me One Good Reason"). Lest this become a musical equivalent to a Judy Bloom book, Blink throws in plenty of inappropriate moments of Sandler-esque proportions. There's the 40-second, jack-hammer fast diatribe against an ex-girlfriend involving unnatural acts with her parents ("Happy Holidays, You Bastard"), ennui-killing acting out ("Reckless Abandon"), and kicking back with a cute girl at a Vans Warped Tour show. Despite their goofy rep, Blink-182's combination of vulnerable lyrics and pop smarts blow away any notion of these guys being another dumb punk band.