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This place has been bouncing the last week, it’s always been divided and it’s what makes it thrive, how boring would it be if we all loved new blink. We’d have 5 pages of “yeah great song” and it would fizzle out. Instead we have 50 pages of utter carnage. It’s great when you come back on after 10 mins and there’s been another 20 posts to read through, old members coming back and new ones signing up.

Travis‘ comments on his Insta post. Haha

outside of my laughing gif (which I stand by) - No one should be surprised by this. California was sonically like blink forgot how they were supposed to sound and took inspiration from the bands they influenced in their past - it sounded like a talented painter getting knocked on the head and being reduced to finger painting. Just a watered down, wanky version of what it should be. We knew they were on a bit of a high from how California performed, and we saw droves of different writers, producers, Feldmann still involved, and Mark suddenly releasing synth-laced 80s stuff. There was always going to be a more pop focused edge to this record - and this single confirms that. this is paint by numbers "please do well on the charts!" track for the modern age, where most songs sounds fucking identical and autotuned to shit. Now it's definitely 'experimental' for blink, because blink don't usually release straight up pop music. so you know, Mark was right on the money there. For direct commentary - Idk why people like the lyrics. they're not as unbelievably 'cringe' as some of California but it's fucking weird to have lyrics about being a misunderstood messy punk kid when there's not a single goddamn thing that fits punk musically in the song at all. it's also hilarious hearing these lyrics from Mark, who's darkest part of his childhood is his parents divorcing.... just like half of the worlds parents. Boohoo, big boy. Musically it's just bad. not really sure how to defend it. I can't talk about it instrumentally because it's a garbled together mess. I think if you actually reduced it to it's bare parts it would've been a typical so-so California song, but they've just scrubbed it with bullshit polish and left it at that. I'm not angry. I'm not disappointed. blink died ages ago, this is just fucking funny now.

holy shit, I fucking knew it

What the fuck is happening in this thread??

I'm impressed by this interpretation, especially because I think you may have put more thought into it than Mark did!

you don't understand the word milf, do you?

woman works with a man = must be sleeping together.

Drunk Kay here (sup) shootin' shit with Mozarella sticks. Still don't like song. Love ya'll though byeeeeeee

Songs awesome. New Ava. New blink. More simple creatures. You guys can bicker all you want but I’m riding this hype train all year long.

sometimes I wonder if we're all in for a mystery-movie-twist where we find out that all of the people in Oliver's stories were actually him all along

Oliver doesn't know shit

Everyone seems really keen to point out it could do well on the radio and I'm stumped as to why that actually matters, especially in this day an age where streaming is king. We're fans of blink, not fans of whatever is on the radio - having it be 'relevant' and radio friendly shouldn't ever be the forefront of why you like something, it should be about...you know... actually enjoying it, and relating to it. I do not find the song pleasing to listen to, and if it wasn't blink I wouldn't have listened to it a second time because it is not remotely the style of music I'm interested in. the fact that it came from the band that created my favourite records to date makes it extra difficult to swallow because I know they've done better and could do better, and their insistence on being 'relevant' by having other people write for them and produce them up the butt makes it more depressing. as for Mark being salty... he's a millionaire. He apparently only cares about being a radio hit now, so why should he care about his actual fans responses? if they don't like it that's what he's looking for, right? Because this isn't the type of music you should expect hardcore blink fans to actually like. While that guys comment is a little silly, he's probably some random young dude who works a dead end job and is gutted his favourite band put out a pop turd. Mark is a fucking millionaire musician who's a grown ass man who should expect negative feedback after 25 goddamn years in the industry. he should've ignored it, like he's done in the past. Deleting comments, threatening to ban people, he looks like a butt hurt little bitch. He's the one with the 'power' in the situation, there's no need to punch down.

Ghent, look fair fucks to you, you like this era of blink (although I do think you might exaggerate it to get a reaction sometimes) But comparing this to their peak Untitled days is just ridiculous, your opinions are losing a shitload of credibility at the moment so pack it in and we can try to forget that this ever happened.

This song is the best thing to happen to Tom in 5 years

Rebel Girl is more blink than Blame it on my Youth.

"You can never kill my raccooooooon, he's really big and lives on my streeeeet"

yeah having the bands drummer and his producer who you worked with on music for the last 6 years writing with you is totally the same as hiring various industry writers that write for major pop acts 🙄 i don't really care anymore who they choose to write with but it's not remotely the same. also constantly bodyshaming their producer because he is overweight doesn't make your argument more valid

It's hard for Ghent to post from multiple accounts in depth fast enough, he's only got two hands.

You guys care too much. The haters AND the lovers. It’s only music. If you enjoy it, then great. If you don’t then that’s okay too. You’re all so aggressive on your stances. It really doesn’t matter at all.

I hope this comes out soon! My 14 year old nephew is bored at school and really needs some advice on how to have a good time . Meeting his friends at the Target curb won't cut it much longer

Fully preparing myself for a guitar riff that is better than anything Feldy/Skiba could come up with in 2+ years (despite the writer not even caring/trying) and full blown depression imagining what could’ve been if Mark/Trav were involved. I hope it kicks ass, Tom deserves a pick me up at this point. Been down too long.

Same. I was excited for California at first because let’s face it, Tom was horrible live in his last few years with blink and it was clear he didn’t want to be there. He viewed blink as a joke and it was honestly kind of like a kick in the nuts to all the fans that had been into the band for so long. So at that point the magic with blink was over anyways. It was intriguing to think what Skiba could bring to the band. Now in hindsight, after seeing what the band has become, I wish it never happened. Should have been over when Tom left again. Travis’s plane crash gave them another run but let’s face it, the magic had been gone for years before that. Bottom line blink ain’t blink without Mark or Tom, and this new direction theyve taken the band is trash.

in summary:

I think tom was the soul of this band. And its gone.

Imagine quitting a message board for like the 5th time and still actively talking about posters there in your spare time

So yeah we can totally blame Mark for the stale setlist right? This is from the interview i posted above Not long after announcing the tour dates, six cities have already sold out. Are you feeling like you should backpedal about your stance on not wanting to go out on tour with AVA? That response has to be so fulfilling and humbling. Oh, it totally is. After 20 years of touring, I absolutely felt that way. In blink, we had a process we stuck to where 99% of the time we played the same setlist for decades. We’d add one or two new songs in, but out of the 15 songs we’d play, 12 of them would never change. And that really wears on a guy like me where I want to create all the time. When I got out of touring a couple of years ago, I honestly thought I’d never tour again. I honestly thought I was going to keep creating music like I had been doing and I would get into all this other stuff, especially To The Stars Academy. The stuff I’m involved with is insanely fascinating and fun and different and cool and crazy, but I thought touring wasn’t going to happen again. And then everything lined up for this year. And then I realized, if I don’t go and do a tour right now, my fear is that the band will not be taken seriously, and it just looks like “Tom’s recording every once in a while.” And I really didn’t want that to happen. I looked at everything that was going on, and I said, “Well, this is a perfect time.” And have it come out at the exact same time where we can educate people to some really far-out things. It made all the sense in the world if I could bring Angels back, and if it worked, it would be the top of the sphere for everything I’m doing.

skiba was the best choice but they destroyed all of the chemistry the moment they decided to trash an entire album of material he co-wrote. mark and skiba were a dream team for a lot of fans of their genre. i bet skiba was really excited about it at first too but then it became abundantly clear that he was no longer wanted as a creative member. i wouldn't give a fuck either if i were him.

Travis Barker when asked about Dude Ranch:

This means we're halfway back to a third breakup where Tom gets kicked out and/or quits again!

Yes I would absolutely. I hug the shit out of my guy friends. I love the fuck out of them. It seems like you don’t have any actual friends at all, male or female. You’re ignoring what I’m actually saying to spin you’re bullshit like you normally do. You can find a woman sexually attractive and still just be friends with her. It’s that simple. If you honestly find something like a hug as “blue ball teasing” then you should be put on a watchlist. i never said “being sexually attracted to a woman = you only see them sex objects” I said that if you can’t be platonic friends with a woman that you find sexually attractive or anyone woman for that matter, then there is definitely an issue with how you view women.

I think the weirdest thing about these songwriters, is that they come up with the most basic stuff. Like 'so and so' helped us write the line "These are the good old days" ...

Check this mans hard drive right now.

This post from reddit is pure gold:

What‘s your review? OMG SO GOOD LOVE IT GREATEST BLINK EVER?

Also another note I want to make... I don't want to hate this band, in fact I WANT to be proven wrong. It's just that (so far) I've been unimpressed with "blink-182" without Tom. And songs like this doesn't help the case with diet blink-182. As much shit as I want to give Sum 41 for going further down the metal path, at least they're still able to rock out a decent tune. This... I don't even know what they're going for anymore.

Oliver's preferred blink topics : being old, arthritis, prostate exams, fiber intake, mortgage talk, stock market analysis, and going to bed before 9pm.

You mean like, the bro code?

GASP

Brooks Wackerman fills in for Travis for a couple of shows and absolutely kills it. Doesn’t miss a beat. Four years with blink and Skiba still can’t seem to play songs properly. Shits embarrassing.

"Looming Threat of Mark Hoppus Fucking Your Mom Becoming More Realistic by the Day" https://thehardtimes.net/music/looming-threat-of-mark-hoppus-fucking-your-mom-becoming-more-realistic-by-the-day/

California and Neighbourhoods better than Dude Ranch 😂

Says the guy who ignores countless amounts of evidence against Trump and still posts #wherearethecuffs repeatedly

You're talking to a guy who truly thinks he could replace Skiba and be just as good

Honestly, if the music is going to be good, I could care less why he's making music again.

Fuck me, those must be some seriously low expectations. If this was just audio I would of guessed it was one of those shit 17 year old blink cover bands you see on YouTube from South America.

I’m 99% sure Scott doesn’t give a fuck if anyone believes him. I don’t need to know what he looks like, we’ve spoken loads over the years. That’s enough for me. That’s a real connection. I know who he is and that’s all that matters.