It’s always a strange moment when one of your favourite artists releases a new single; a case of excitement yet also nervousness. When it has been eight years since the band released its last album this therefore heightens the emotions substantially. After such a period without new material, will your long-term favourite band still be able to deliver? Will you be able to hold the new material in such high regard? Upon first listening to ‘Up All Night‘ I feared not.
When Blink-182 went on an extended hiatus in 2005, Tom DeLonge went on to form Angels & Airwaves whilst Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker focussed on a new project in the form of +44. Listening to ‘Up All Night‘ is like hearing the band bring together their hiatus projects with the Blink-182 that we know and love. There’s a greater sense of maturity about the band, as was beginning to be evidenced with the band’s final release before the hiatus, and in fact with ‘Stay Together For the Kids‘ from the ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket‘ album also. The band has clearly progressed and matured, and upon first listening to the single I was a little fearful of the change. Did the band still do it for me? Was ‘Up All Night‘ a credible return for the band, or was it in fact a massive disappointment after all these years away? Upon repeated listens to ‘Up All Night‘ I found my answer.
‘Up All Night‘ is another absolutely brilliant single release from the fantastic pop-punk band that is Blink-182. The band has most definitely evolved, after nearly a decade since 2003s self-titled release however is that really such a bad thing? Would I prefer for the band to have stagnated and not progressed its sound? Upon reflection, no I wouldn’t.
With its incredible introduction, ‘Up All Night‘ instantly grabs you, having you hooked right from the offset. Tom DeLonge powering away on the guitar, Travis Barker delights with his stick skills as always, and we have ourselves another hit from Blink-182. The opening riff from Tom DeLonge is incredibly catchy, it has you wanting to pick up a guitar and play it for yourself; the supreme power of inspiration still shining through as Blink-182 provides us with another absolute aural delight. Not only is this opening guitar hook incredibly catchy, but the chorus also is equally infectious. After listening to the track a couple of times you find yourself unable to stop yourself singing along to the chorus, tapping away to the beat on your desk as you do so. ‘Up All Night‘ is an incredible comeback from Blink-182; undoubtedly different to what most people surely expected from the world’s biggest pop-punk band, brilliant nonetheless however, and an extremely catchy single that Blink-182 can rightly be extremely proud of.
I was extremely disappointed when Blink-182 announced its hiatus in 2005, I always kept the faith that the band would be back though and was over the moon when the band announced its return in early 2009. Two and a half years later and we can celebrate properly the return of Blink-182; the band has a new single in the form of ‘Up All Night‘, and in September the band’s gift to us is sixth studio album ‘Neighborhoods‘. If ‘Up All Night‘ is anything to go by then ‘Neighborhoods‘ will most certainly be an album well worth adding to your collection.
This is not the same Blink-182 that left us in 2005, this is a Blink-182 that has benefitted from several years apart to focus on other projects; this is a Blink-182 that will come back bigger and better than ever.
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UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
