Unglued Reviews

Hard on the heels of Tom DeLonge’s grandiose Angels And Airwaves debut comes +44, the new vehicle for the other “half” of blink-182, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker (Shane Gallagher and Craig Fairbaugh complete the lineup). Some have criticised the first single (and title track) from When Your Heart Stops Beating for sounding too much like classic blink, saying that at least DeLonge tried to break new ground. However, what’s wrong with focusing on what you’re good at? There’s no pride in change for change’s sake if the results suck.

Anyway, while +44 definitely sounds closer to blink-182 than Angels And Airwaves does, taken as a whole the album demonstrates clear differences – notably generally slower songs and a complete absence of the former trio’s trademark humour.

The album crashes open with Lycanthrope, which reinforces that Mark’s voice was always less annoying than Tom’s, and proves that Hoppus and Barker have retained their previous band’s knack for hooks and catchy choruses. Keyboards add texture to Baby Come On, and the title track is a kinetic slice of ultra-poppy punk with plenty of polish.

After this strong opening, the pace lulls a little with the likes of the slow but purposeful Little Death (although its reduced tempo doesn’t make its layered chorus less powerful) and the reflective but dense Lillian.

Cliffdiving brings vibrant pop back to the mix, with a stomping chorus that makes it one of the album’s best songs. Then it’s time for the dreamlike instrumental Interlude. The melodic No, It Isn’t is restrained until breaking energetically free in the final third, while Make You Smile is a male-female duet, guitars ringing out over skittering beats.

It’s not a perfect album (Weatherman is ponderous and takes itself way too seriously) but in the war between post-blink-182 splinter groups, the first battle goes to +44.

Owen Heitmann