Blink-182
Blink-182[a] is an American rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Their current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has diversified throughout their career, their musical style, described as pop-punk, blends catchy pop melodies with fast-paced punk rock. Their lyrics primarily focus on relationships, adolescent frustration, and maturity—or lack thereof. The group emerged from a suburban, Southern California skate punk scene and first gained notoriety for high-energy live shows and irreverent humour.
For the band's 2003 album, see Blink-182 (album).
Blink-182
After years of independent recording and touring, including stints on the Warped Tour, the group signed to MCA Records. Their third and fourth albums—Enema of the State (1999) and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)—reached their furthest commercial success while their singles, "All the Small Things", "Dammit" and "What's My Age Again?" became hit songs and MTV staples. Later efforts, including an untitled album (2003), marked stylistic shifts. Hoppus is the only member to remain in the band throughout its entire history. DeLonge left the group twice, both times a decade apart, before returning once more. Founding drummer Scott Raynor recorded and toured with the group before being dismissed in 1998, thereafter being replaced by Barker. During DeLonge's hiatus from 2015 to 2022, the band included Alkaline Trio singer and guitarist Matt Skiba, with whom they recorded two albums, California (2016) and Nine (2019) and toured in support of both. Their ninth album, One More Time..., was released on October 20, 2023.[3]
Blink-182's straightforward approach and simple arrangements, which helped initiate pop-punk's second mainstream rise, made them popular among generations of audiences. Worldwide, the group has sold 50 million albums[4] and moved 15.3 million copies in the U.S.[5]
Public image
Over the band's thirty-year career, the public image of Blink-182 has evolved with their sound. Whereas other punk acts emerged from sometimes dangerous urban environments, Blink-182 professed a love for their upbringing in the suburbs—"beige little boxes in a row", Hoppus extolled in one song.[204] "They weren't selling out; they were buying in," observed Pitchfork critic Jeremy Gordon. "Part of that was Hoppus and Delonge's exurban SoCal upbringing, which encouraged a sunny prankishness at odds with urban despair."[205] The band attracted criticism for their simplified arrangements and clean sound. British publication NME was particularly critical, with reviewer Steven Wells comparing them to "that sanitized, castrated, shrink-wrapped 'new wave' crap that the major US record companies pumped out circa 1981 in their belated attempt to jump on the 'punk' bandwagon."[206] Blink-182 were frequently listed among the most derided global rock acts in the 2000s, alongside acts like Creed or Nickelback;[207] meanwhile, a 2001 Federal Trade Commission report condemned the entertainment industry for marketing lewd lyrics to American youth, specifically naming Blink-182 as among the most explicit acts.[208][209] Their goofy public image and juvenilia also found detractors. Original punk veterans like John Lydon dismissed them as "comedy act",[210][211] and forbearers like Green Day openly critiqued their stage presence.[212] NOFX, progenitors of this clownish camaraderie, felt they had copied their act; Fat Mike, its frontman, was known to sing “fuck fans of Blink-182” at shows.[58]
The band's conventional appeal, as well as partnerships with MTV, boardsport companies, and clothing brands, led to accusations that they were betraying the independent spirit of punk rock.[213] The band were considered sellouts from the underground punk scene as early as 1996, when they first partnered with music conglomerate UMG. A more far-left segment of the scene[102] decried their fixation on female fans flashing them at concerts, in addition to lyrics considered sexist or misogynistic.[214] Some writers have called their stage banter—juvenile, occasionally homophobic or sexist for shock value—an accurate reflection of millennial male conversation in its era.[215] Others have considered them among the least offensive of the aughts pop-punk wave and its common disdain for the opposite sex. "Many of Blink's best songs endure because they turn inward: the lovelorn boy has sense enough to wonder what's wrong with him," observed Kelefa Sanneh.[58] To this end, the band has also been examined through a homosocial lens, with the band's internal drama and the friendship between DeLonge and Hoppus scrutinized in this light: "A queer reading of Blink-182 may almost be too obvious to make," admitted Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic, "but playing with and panicking at the idea of being gay was actually vital to the band's identity [...] the guys' [brotherhood] is part of what inspires "shipping" blogs and slash fanfiction."[216]
