yodda

I would agree that the majority of seasoned musicians still producing music put out inferior material to their previous efforts (typically when the artist's in their 20s and 30s). For example the Pixies keep putting out a mediocre effort every 2-3 years. So I'm not surprised these new blink songs are lacklustre. Especially since they don't appear to be making any attempts to approach their music differently - it all just sounds like variations on stuff they've done before. And while I'm not that big on Neighborhoods; they at least endeavoured to push their sound into new places. It's rare but occasionally you have artists getting up there in age who find new ways to innovate and potentially put out their best work. Artists like Swans, Julia Holter, Scott Walker (RIP), Xiu Xiu, David Bowie (just Blackstar really - also RIP), Kristin Hayter, Shearwater, Low, Portishead etc have amazing late-era output that rivals their earlier works.

Also somebody should have reigned in Tom's vibrato on words like "shame" and "pain" in the chorus of MTYK. Small quarrel - but is just sounds goofy. If they had just been sung as a straight note it would have done fine.

I'm surprised more people aren't hating on the "One more tii-eee-yiiy-yime" part in the chorus. The second I heard that in the teaser I hated it - it's basically Tom mixing his trademark yodelling with awful American Idol-esque vocal affectation.

^yeah I thought the same thing One More Time sounds so Skiba era - I could easily imagine it fitting anywhere on Nine. Hence my distaste for it. More Than You Know gets us out of Skiba-era land and has a little more trademark Tom-isms. Mark is working in good contrast with the low vocals too. It's just a fairly ordinary/forgettable number when the chorus kicks in - would have been nice if they extended that bridge or expanded it into something else.

I really like the subject of the song - the whole idea behind it reminds me of a lyric by one of my favourite bands: "It's fucking sad that we need a tragedy to occur to gain a fresh perspective in our lives". But if I'm honest the lyrics on One More Time do little very much for me. Perhaps it's the overtly saccharine performance - jesus christ it's just a dirgey retreading of "I Miss You" - plus the boy-band style repetition of "One More Time" with their pitch-corrected/robotic voices robs the song of any emotional resonance.

That's the negative spirit!

People are so stoked in the main thread and it's sweet to see. This could be a place for people to vent about issues around the new songs (or whatever else band-related) without being a buzz-kill to the majority of posters. You can lock the thread if the mere existence of it is a bummer.

Cool there's a little bit of Untitled energy to More than you Know

I am also happy to be here in spite of the fact that I will almost certainly not care for this song.

Hey +44online got a mention I think being a very active 182Online member definitely fuelled my love of discourse around music and has kept me perpetually tethered to blink-182 (despite the fact I rarely listen to them anymore). Blink has kind of turned into an old best friend - I don't hear from them or seek them out anymore but when I do reunite with them it's always pleasant and easy.

The analogy is particularly apt as the candy would have almost certainly expired.

I appreciate Mark getting creative with backing vocals and counter-melodies recalls What's my Age Again? a little bit

I'm glad I'm not the only buzzkill. "whatchya say? wanna play?" 😬

I'm just finding out the news! So blinky bill is back? And this 6 year Skiba fever dream is over?!

That opener is disappointing - I keep forgetting it's there Automatic was a surprising little tune - it's neat Cure worship - could have fit on Neighborhoods (it would suit Mark's voice). Everything else is fairly inoffensive with Euphoria and Kiss & Tell being the standouts. It sounds like Tom is having fun here. I wonder if I like modern Angels more than modern blink because Tom having fun sounds more authentic? The "fun" of Nine and California sounds calculated and insincere.