An unexpectedly great sixth LP from former fun-time punks turned introspective souls.
When a band announces an indefinite hiatus, as baggy-shorted pop-punk funsters Blink-182 did in 2005 after five LPs and a few circumventions of the globe, they usually never return. (Yes, we’re looking at you, Fugazi, and still waiting.) And when tragedy strikes that band, those chances of a comeback become slimmer still. In 2008, Blink drummer Travis Barker, at the time a member of +44 alongside fellow 182-er Mark Hoppus, was in an air crash, and only just survived. His accident happened less than a month after regular Blink-182 producer Jerry Finn died of a brain haemorrhage. That sixth album was looking ever more distant.
But Barker recovered, overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder, and during his recuperation the tension that’d led to the band’s breakdown gradually receded. Hoppus, Barker and Tom DeLonge rediscovered their enthusiasm for playing together, returning to the public eye at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Neighborhoods has been delayed by touring commitments and a new studio regime – instead of having an outsider crack the whip, Blink-182 have produced this collection themselves, in their own time (and in their own spaces, with individually crafted elements woven together later). And it’s time they were right to take, the results easily surpassing expectations, despite a slightly dislocated feel to some tracks as a result of the detached creative process. Decidedly darker in tone than much of the material that made them famous, this is a set that explores new territories for the band, and does so with great confidence.
Lees de rest van deze review op BBC CD recensies (Engels)
Bron: BBC Music