blink-182

A bigger production sound is the only real difference between this record from 1999 and the ones preceding it. The sound of high school hi-jinx is most prominent, as is their never-ending supply of catchy melodies and songs about butts.

Everyone loves a party, so most people love a party band. That's why SoCal's Blink-182
have enjoyed a relatively long life in the ephemeral world of punk rock: They know how
to make being pissed off sound as inviting as the pop of a beer-can tab. Bassist-vocalist Mark
Hoppus, guitarist-vocalist Tom Delonge and drummer Travis Barker have a swell time on
their third album, singing about sexual frustration ("Dumpweed"), alienation (the... More >

Ignore the porn-movie cover except insofar as it conveys terror. These guys are so frightened of females that they turn down sure sex from one hussy on grounds of name-dropping and reject another for being too quick with the zipper. There's no macho camouflage--girlophobia is their great subject. And boy, have they worked up some terrific defenses. If preemptive jealousy doesn't do the trick, there's always suicide, or abduction by aliens. Yet note it well--because they're out front about their little problem, "Going Away to College" is the love song the Descendents put Green Day on earth to inspire. (Grade - A-)