Before:

It’s been 24 years since Blink-182 formed, 22 years since they've released their debut album, "Cheshire Cat", and five years since they released their sixth album, "Neighborhoods". Now, well into their forties, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker are starting over without founding member, Tom DeLonge, who they called “disrespectful and ungrateful” during his departure from the band in early 2015.

Of course, most Blink fans were worried about what would happen after DeLonge's exit, but the other dudes wasted no time filling Tom’s whiny Vans with another pop-punk heavyweight: Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. It seemed as though they made a HUGE sound choice with this new member. Skiba can “na-na-na-na” with the best of them, has a “woah-ho” to rival Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and has found a third of creativity in a breeze as he wrote songs with the other two thirds, Hoppus and Barker. Seventeen of their creations have made it onto "California", released on the first of July.

After:

And rest assured they’re still juvenile, and they're still the fart-joke-loving mischief mongers we know and love, as two 30-second tracks (like the one about naked dudes ["Built This Pool"] for an example) proved. But without the tensions of a difficult working relationship, they’ve also managed to recapture some of the early energy that was so obviously missing from Neighborhoods and also their self-titled record... Yeah, I said it!

There are gems aplenty. "Bored to Death" is still a go-to-summer-anthem, and on "Home Is Such a Lonely Place" Skiba proved that he's capable of sweet vocals not dissimilar to DeLonge on 2003’s "I Miss You." Other tracks, like "She’s Out of Her Mind", "No Future" and "Rabbit Hole" will never leave your head either.

The odes to their hometown are, at best, OK. "

Los Angeles", "San Diego" and "California" all sound cheesy and dated, but for some reason, they are still catchy. When you hear lyrics like “Living in the perfect weather /Spending time inside together /Hey, here’s to you, California,” you sometimes can’t help but cringe at the teenage vibes these middle-aged men still relate to. Also, don't even get me started on the album's opening track, "Cynical." It was slow at first with nothing but a guitar strum behind Mark's voice when all of a sudden 29 seconds into it the rest of the band joins in. Travis was on fire smashing his kit and all of a sudden a familiar vibe is felt as Mark’s long whine-like singing brought me in and made me move to the beat. Then, Matt finally got his chance to shine however when he opened up, all I can hear is somewhat of an attempt at channeling Tom DeLonge‘s long, dragged out worded singing... Yet I love it! On a serious note, this track automatically proves that Matt Skiba was the perfect choice for this record because his voice and diction are clear, he understands the material of Blink and knows how to deliver these songs, and he just definitely sets the mood for the band's future, which is starting out in the right direction.Whether they meant to or not, Blink-182 paved the way for a new version of their old sound. Acts who wanted to emphasize the uplifting melodies of pop while yelling about life’s frustrations had a stencil they could follow — so the Simple Plans, Good Charlottes, and All Time Lows did. Overall, the things that Blink had to prove with this record were: that they could write without DeLonge, and that his distinctive voice wasn’t the glue holding all the pieces together. "California" may be a little too long and a little bit different to some people, but it has the humor, pace, emotion and the huge choruses of a classic Blink record, and it perfected a new style of Pop-Punk, especially for themselves. So, mission accomplished.

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars

No matter if it's through iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, or Walmart, there's one thing you should definitely do when it comes to California... BUY IT NOW! THE MONEY YOU'LL SPEND WILL BE WORTH IT!