Released: 20 October 2023
Columbia/Sony Music
The time is finally here.
Seventeen new songs by Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge and Travis Barker. The three of them together. I personally have obsessed over this album for so long. It was full of excitement and also nerves, as I remember the first time they got back together, something was missing on Neighborhoods. There were some great songs though.
Lead into the Skiba era and John Feldmann. I was excited by Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio) joining the band as he is an amazing artist. At the beginning it was great but the empty feeling came in without Tom.
Fast forward to 2023 and we have a brand new record and a great in-depth interview with Zane Lowe. I sat and watched the interview before I listened to the record and it was incredible how raw it was, seeing a side of blink-182 we had never seen before. Admitting some stupid things had been said over the years and putting a lot in perspective. Insights into the record include how committed Travis was to encapsulating some of the late great Jerry Finn way of creating art, as well as writing and singing some tracks himself.
One More Time opens with ‘Anthem Part 3‘, one I know many fans were hyped about, and it follows its predecessors in blistering pop punk fashion! “This time I won’t be complacent!” It’s like their wiser selves are talking to the previous two versions. Another great album opener that heads into previously released track ‘Dance With Me‘ and ‘Fell in Love‘.
Now this is where it gets interesting. For years, Tom and Travis have been talking about an unused Box Car Racer song and a lot of us assumed ‘Dance With Me‘ was going to be it, given the live version they played back in the day on YouTube. But it turns out it’s ‘Terrified‘, and boy oh boy does it slap! It takes us right back to that record but it feels so right being a blink song.
‘One More Time‘ and ‘More Than You Know‘ follow before the ‘When We Were Young‘ riff begins playing and this song sounds like a progressive blink-182. ‘Edging‘ comes on next which feels like it’s been out for ages, and ‘You Don’t Know What You Got‘ is a song Hoppus clearly has written about his cancer experience. The lyrics in the verses and the bridge are deep and great, but the super repetitive chorus just doesn’t hit hard enough.
For me, ‘Blink Wave‘ is the song I have always wanted blink to do. It’s 80s as fuck and could almost be a sequel to ‘Always‘ from the self-titled era. The chorus is super catchy, and has depeche mode/The Cure vibes. ‘Bad News‘ begins with an acoustic and vocal from Mark before belting into pop punk goodness! This song feels very Mark!
‘Hurt (Interlude)‘ on the contrast sounds like something straight from 2005 Angels and Airwaves and ‘We don’t need to whisper’ is such a cool break into the record. ‘Turpentine‘ is a song that came out of nowhere, I wasn’t expecting this. The track slaps and is a straight-up huge synth punk rock anthem. It is one of my favourite songs off the record. ‘Fuck Face‘ is a hardcore-sounding track that Travis wrote where he and Tom sing even though it’s hard to tell between the voices.
‘Other Side‘ is a song that Mark has clearly written about his late bass tech Robert Ortiz who passed away a few years ago. Here it sounds like he has written a sad song in a happy way. The album wraps up with ‘Childhood‘ which is an ode to them growing up and has a lot of substance – it feels like a story and the music is super artistic.
Overall, this record is a great release from blink-182. One More Time pulls a lot of their inspirations together, including many of their various side projects while also bringing progressive blink-182 to form. This is how I believe blink should’ve sounded post-self-titled era. It is a record that will impress the older blink fanbase as well as new blink fans.
Rating: 8/10
Written by @seenbyjuzzy
Stream ONE MORE TIME here
Blink-182 – ONE MORE TIME tracklisting:
1. ANTHEM PART 3
2. DANCE WITH ME
3. FELL IN LOVE
4. TERRIFIED
5. ONE MORE TIME
6. MORE THAN YOU KNOW
7. TURN THIS OFF!
8. WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
9. EDGING
10. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT
11. BLINK WAVE
12. BAD NEWS
13. HURT (INTERLUDE)
14. TURPENTINE
15. F*CK FACE
16. OTHER SIDE
17. CHILDHOOD
