Nine: Blink 182’s Decline or Revival?
By Kalei Burgess
I’m starting off this weeks review by making one point very clear: Blink 182 is one of the best bands to exist. Every album they’ve ever released has been a soundtrack to my life at some point, and I’ll support any project they release.
With that being said, let’s discuss “Nine’, Blink’s (ironically) eighth studio album that was just released on September 20th. Mark Hoppus made it clear this was going to be a mature project, and growth would be clearly shown. While the lyrics heard throughout the album are far from their earlier projects such as “Happy Holidays, You Bastard” (the grandpa that ate seven fucking hot dogs will always live in infamy), I wouldn’t quite say this album screams their age. “Nine” still possesses Blink-182 trademarks such as pop-punk sounds, Travis’s too good to be true drumming and deeper lyrics masked with happier beats. However, this isn’t a repeat of what they know.
We’ve come to expect jokes and endearing immaturity from Blink 182, but “Nine” is free of any goofing off and twenty second joke tracks. Considering the lyric content, however, I’m not sure lines such as “I wanna see some naked dudes/ thats why I built this pool” would really fit in. Mark Hoppus wrote a lot of the songs off of “Nine” relating to his depression and the dark state the world seems to be in. “Heaven” was written about the Thousand Oaks shooting last year, while “Black Rain” contained sly commentary on the Catholic Church. Throughout the album, we’re presented with themes of inner struggle, heartbreak, reminiscing on easier times, and overcoming the dozens of obstacles we seem to face.
Despite the overall sound of the album being a bit different than Blink’s usual style, I wouldn’t say this album is the more unique thing I’ve ever heard. A lot of the lyrics, such as “You stitch me up but you can’t stop me bleeding out/I’m better when I’m broken (From “I Really Wish I Hated You”) sounds like something I would’ve doodled on my arm during my emo phase in middle school. I’ve heard variations of this album in every pop-punk project released between 2013 to now. I wish I could say “Nine” rocked my world, but unfortunately I don’t think it’s comparable to the rest of Blink’s discography. The pop bits are just a little too “poppy” the autotune is a far cry from their somewhat punk roots, and most of the songs sound like something I’ve heard before. “Nine” sounds hollow and lacking authenticity Blink has always been associated with.
I think it is still worth mentioning that one can never say Blink 182 doesn’t ever stop exploring and evolving, each phase still with success. “Run Away” features on of Travis Barker’s beats, featuring Linkin Park style rapping, making for something slightly more fresh and catchy. Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, Tom Delonge’s replacement since 2015, seems to match this album’s sound a lot more as well. “Generational Divide” reminds us that Blink hasn’t lost their nineties pop punk abilities, and packs heavier guitar as well as an edgier, fast paced sound into its 50 seconds.
Although “Nine” was not the best Blink-182 album to grace our ears, no one can say Blink has always stuck to what they know. This seemed like more of a personal project of theirs, and as we all know Blink isn’t too concerned with following the status quo (I mean, they did a joint tour with Lil Wayne. Can you think of a more Blink-182 thing to do?). As with all their other albums, your sure to find at least a song or two that will be stuck in your head for a solid few weeks. I’m still going to be one of the first to spend all my money trying to get floor seats for their next tour.
Overall Rating: 6.9/10
Streaming on all major platforms
