blink-182

This might be the best example of the band's fusion of punk rock and teen dating etiquette. It's not their most raw release -- the melodies are undeniably catchy this time around. The jokes are still there, but songs like "First Date" and "Rock Show" offer something more: fine mixtures of fast-paced pop, juvenalia and humility.

You can dismiss Blink-182 as cartoons if you like. They're certainly not going to stop you.
They even call their new album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: Say it out loud, let your
inner eighth-grader savor the cadence of the phrase. It sums up Blink-182's wiseass
brat-punk ethos almost as well as their recent live album, The Mark, Tom and Travis Show
(The Enema Strikes Back), which featured the butt-stupidest stage banter since... More >

Aware that their commercial base is teenage girls who know real boys are meaner than 'N Sync, as all teenage girls do, they play up the fears that afflict mean boys at least as much as any other kind. They pine, they get tongue-tied, they wait by the phone, they curse their stupid haircuts. Way too old in real life to stop at kissing, and also way too horny, they assume the persona of guys for whom kissing and even holding hands are a big deal, which even for mean, old, and/or horny guys they often are. Yet they also rail against know-it-all grownups in general and warring parents in particular, and make obscene suggestions about their girlfriends' moms. All to the fetchingly whiny airs of the universal punk tunebook. Commercial calculation--it has its uses. (Grade - A-)