boxelder

unbelievable analysis @Champ182. i definitely agree about jxdn or whatever. MGK feels somewhat different because he’s flirted with pop punk his whole career, and the LP winkingly uses pop punk tropes and cliches in a celebratory way. likewise kennyhoopla, another travis collaborator, has always done this type of stuff. but the jxdns and whoever’s next, plus the random olivia rodrigo stuff, feels much as you described

i don’t think travis is the worst in being a showy performative drummer, and there’s really nothing wrong with it anyway. he DEFINITELY enjoys a tabloid lifestyle though, no surprises there

just was reading the new book by dave grohl, the storyteller, which is entertaining. i didn't know this until now, but apparently both foo fighters and blink share the same tour manager, gus brandt. i'd been reading this whole book wondering why he kept referring to a "gus" while on tour, then it hit me haha. don't know why that surprised me, but i found it interesting nonetheless. blink gets exactly one mention, in the context of performing a big day out 00:

alright, i'm not sure when this was last done (certainly it has been), but modern blink has now released nearly 50 songs in total, not counting joke songs and including collabs. let's rank 'em. there's plenty of songs in here i disliked upon first release that have grown on me, and there's others that have fallen down the rankings. some remain the same (IRWIHY should've never even seen the light of day... IMO). cynical san diego pin the grenade heaven generational divide home is such a lonely place no heart to speak of bored to death SOOHM sober 6/8 los angeles KOTW teenage satellites hey i'm sorry on some emo shit long lost feeling TOTTM darkside run away the first time ransom misery hungover you parking lot rabbit hole quarantine BIOMY no future out of my head not another christmas song left alone black rain happy days don't mean anything california scumbag last train home bottom of the ocean good old days PS I hope you're happy why are we so broken it's all fading to black remember to forget me wildfire death bed let me down i really wish i hated you

it's definitely a very unusual show. sometimes the writing is terrible, sometimes it's great -- and none of that can matter unless the audience is tuned in. it's mainly tourists in the audience at nearly midnight on a saturday, and if they aren't laughing, it won't catch fire. plus it's always at war with having a broad sensibility and being for comedy nerds. for a sketch to do really well, like more cowbell back in the day, is surprising.

champ are we the same person? haha. i have the same view on SNL. it's almost always been extremely hit or miss, it's very much like following a sports team. i do however appreciate a blink reference on national TV.

wonderful news, i’m so happy that he’s received this news. i was very worried about it. in a bigger sense, i’m so grateful we’ll be able to listen to mark make music, and perform, into the future.

i've enjoyed a few tunes of MGK's tickets to my downfall in the past year, mainly title track and jawbreaker. but i just gave the whole thing a listen and i fucking love this shit haha. it's such a fun listen, combining a lot of classic pop punk themes with some tight (and enjoyably formulaic) songwriting. it's definitely a top-tier pop punk effort in my book, a pretty important LP in the history of the genre at this point. feels gratifying to see pop punk back in the limelight, and while i never expected MGK would be the one who spearheaded it, i appreciate it all the same. also, "nothing inside" sounds almost copy-pasted from "on some emo shit", right down the chords/drum pattern/808s lmao

it took me an extremely long time to come around to wishing well, as in like very lately haha. when the album came out there were so many songs i felt like were too-obvious in their throwback nature: EISF, MH4.17.2011 or whatever, and wishing well. it felt like a lazy riff -- like jar said, had been played on modlife for years -- and its chorus seemed generic. these days i like it a lot more. feels like a classic tom riff and some of the lyrics aren't bad. i still love GOTDF a ton. despite this album's noticeable lack of bridges, i always enjoyed the very U2-esque build it's got going. as a person who's always more or less disliked AVA, it felt like a cool direction the band could be going in that never was.

this was my first album release i got to be a part of as a fan, so this was special for me. it was a little disappointing as a whole because it was so clear they weren't unified in its creation, or really getting along as bandmates... a decade later, it still feels disjointed and unfinished, in some ways. the sequencing is weird and there's a few tunes i could do without. still, there's more than your fair share of enjoyable moments -- kaleidoscope, after midnight, GOTDF, wishing well, all of these remain solid blink songs. was proof that they were greater together, even through a computer and living in different "neighborhoods", than apart. i remember it leaking from a russian source on like the 15th or something. i've still got my interpunk pre-order pink vinyl, i think. was a fun time to be a fan, despite the wait and nature of it all.

my gf and brother, who both went with me, have had plenty of mexican food and we all agreed it was impressively tasty. there was no disappointment there. it's the real deal, we really enjoyed it. more than worth it if you're in the area.

had a great time exploring san diego, and LA, for some blink history. stopping by sombrero was obviously the highlight; the food was fantastic. i also stopped by tom’s childhood home/garage where blink started, and saw the light pole mark climbed haha. truly surreal! i also drove by the flower shop that used to house SOMA, as well as both signature sound studios and rolling thunder. both just boring, boxy office buildings… i don’t know what i expected. still, it was fun to see where tom broke the fuck/cock guitar haha. i also visited belmont park on the beach, where some of the video for M+Ms was filmed. didn’t see DML/doubletime or lou’s records but i’m sure i’ll be back at some point. socal is gorgeous. and in LA i by happenstance passed crossroads which is pretty cool haha, and drove up to zuma beach near malibu where part of the ATST video was shot. here’s some photos from the trip:

haha i’m just planning on driving by and going “cool”. it’ll definitely be cool to see where mark and tom first met though, feels like my own personal tribute to a band that’s meant a lot to me! and thanks @daveyjonesfor the suggestions. i completely forgot about lou’s, very excited to go there!

guys i’m headed to san diego next week, and of course i’ll be hitting up some historical blink spots. planning on sombrero, tom’s house/garage where the band started, maybe original soma or where signature sound was. any other suggestions or things i’m missing?