Review Summary: Dammit, John.
So Blink-182 is back. Not with Tom DeLonge, though, which is a pretty bad thing, but everybody knows that we need to leave the past behind, and that's what the band is trying to achieve in this album. And for starters, this album is a more straight-up effort after the mixed bag Neighborhoods was, but unfortunately, the album loses track just as people would start getting sucked in.
The album actually starts strong with the spectacular "Cynical", which is actually noone of the best songs on this album, and Matt Skiba actually shows a really strong work here, with the "What's the point of saying sorry now?" line being one of his greatest performances... And then comes "Bored to Death", which is, in my opinion, the second greatest song in the album, with some really sensational lyrics. And let's not forget about Travis still being a beast on drums as ever. However, after some great songs, the album starts falling flat on its face once songs like "California"come to the listener's ears.
First let's start with what I think is the biggest problem in this album: John Feldmann. Yes, Feldy is again producing an album of pop punk sound, thing he always did, and look, while I like this guy immensely because he's the leader of Goldfinger, which is one of the most influential ska punk bands out there, let's not forget that he produced for less-than-stellar bands like 5SOS, Good Charlotte and Black Veil Brides; and why I hate his production in this album? It's way too overproduced, and there's some questionable things he probnably demanded, like the over-use of the "woahs", and the lack of fast and good punk energy that is almost only present on shorter tracks like the aforementioned "Cynical" and "Brohemian Rhapsody".
And the other problem is that while Matt is a pretty strong member that has big chances of filing Tom's shoes, he doesn't get a solo song of his own, which is disappointing, because he is a really versatile singer, although he can't be really distinguishable from Mark's vocals, especially on some choruses on certain songs, most notably "Bored to Death", and speaking of him, his bass work and singing is still pretty great, despite some forced moments, like "No Future", probably the least likeable song on this album, next to "California", and let's not forget about "Built This Pool", which is absolutely hilarious, and it's nice seeing that blink is slowly letting their immaturity to get into albums again.
So while California is a pretty nice album that may be recommended for first time listeners, longtime Blink fans like I am will be disappointed for this one.
Recommended songs:
Cynical
Bored to Death
Los Angeles
The Only Thing That Matters
Rabbit Hole
Avoidable songs:
No Future
California.
