Review: "NINE" - Blink-182

Writing about Blink-182 without Tom DeLonge is still a bit of a weird feeling for me.

Having grown up listening to this band, it can still be an adjustment to listen to the new music and not hear DeLonge's voice going back and forth with Mark. Obviously it's been a few years now since that split happened and Matt Skiba is here to stay, with the band having put out two full length albums with him now. And none of this is to say that things should change - Tom and Mark and Travis tried giving Blink another shot at the beginning of this decade, and that didn't land as well as it could have (Neighborhoods was very inconcistent, but the "Dogs Eating Dogs" EP was really, really good). It's clear that Tom is where he wants to be right now, pursuing Angels & Airwaves and his company To The Stars that's done some really interesting work in UFO studies. And Mark and Travis and Matt are where they want to be with the latest release, NINE.

This is a different beast from California - that much was clear from the singles leading up to the album's release. I was trying to withhold judgement on the album until I could hear it in full, but it was hard to not feel a bit apprehensive about the direction based on the songs we were teased with. "Blame It On My Youth" was one of the first lackluster songs I've heard from the band in a while - it's not bad, just not memorable or exciting for me. "Generational Divide" felt a bit more interesting, but it felt more like Blink trying a more punk vibe than feeling like Blink at it's core. "Happy Days" was the first song that really caught my attention and felt exciting - it felt like Blink, a bit like the Blink of my childhood. It tapped into that nostalgia without becoming it, remaining fully in the present of the band's trajectory while acknowledging the past. "I Really Wish I Hated You" and "Darkside" took some time, but especially within the context of the album I'm finding I enjoy them much more than I did as singles.

Where California is the bright summer teenager, NINE is the moody fall young adult. After doing some research, I discovered that Mark went through a season of depression after the touring for California finally settled down, and that this played into the lyrical content of both NINE and Mark's side project, Simple Creatures. You can clearly hear that on some of the tracks, such as "Happy Days", which has some in-depth lyrical breakdowns from Mark over on Genius. There's a variety of other darker subject matters for songs - "Black Rain" focuses on Matt's reaction to the 2015 film Spotlight about abusive priests, and "Heaven" was inspired by Travis' close proximity to the 2018 mass shooting in Thousand Oaks. Despite the legacy of Blink-182 (even still seen on some of the joke songs from California), these guys are all grown men, with families and lives of experience. They've grown up, and their music is accordingly.

One of the things I remembered reading about this album in the lead up to its release was that a comment Travis Barker made (which I unfortunately can't find again), but he said something along the lines of "NINE is the best Blink album since the self-titled record". That record is my favorite by them, so that gave me some big expectations for the record. While I really enjoy some of the songs from this album, I can't say it lives up to that claim - there's some definite growth and exploration on this album, but it's not as consistent or emotionally moving as the self-titled album.

But.

I also have to acknowledge that I have changed immensely since that album came out - I was only *gasp* 10 years old when that album released. Now, at 26, the themes in music that I connect and resonate with are much different. I can't just say it's bad because it doesn't compare to an album written 13 years ago. That's not fair to the band or their ability as musicians. The biggest thing I've been learning about reviewing music in the last few years is that sometimes I change more than a band changes, and that not feeling as in tune with an artist I've loved for years is OK. Blink will still be one of my favorite bands - this just isn't my favorite album from them, and that is quite alright.

Recommended: Happy Days, Heaven, and Black Rain