‘No one can do what we do!” Blink-182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge roars after the band have scurried through a grindcore-threateningly fast take on Happy Holidays, You Bastard. Although it’s a braggadocious statement of rock’n’roll dick-swinging, he may have a point. The Californians’ anthems fully embody both the pop and punk of pop-punk, fusing the puerile rebellion of the latter to hooks so accessible that mainstream TV and radio couldn’t not broadcast them to millennials everywhere. Countless bands imitated them but none had the same impact.
Twenty-four years and two reunions after their breakthrough album, Enema of the State, DeLonge, singer/bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker are still gunning for the same foul-mouthed charm of their halcyon days. When they do it through song, it works. Family Reunion’s chants of “Shit! Piss! Fuck!” etc get a sold-out O2 Arena gleefully screaming obscenities, while Dysentery Gary sounds like the exact same no-holds-barred character assassination it did in 1999. Meanwhile, massive video backdrops and a drum riser hoisted into the air on chains maintain the band’s pop appeal with some arena-worthy theatre.
