Pop-Punk band Blink-182, recently came out with their new single Quarantine on August 7.  Like most artists, Blink is using their music to get out their perspectives on this pandemic out to the word.

Blink has had a hard time finding their sound after ex-band member Tom DeLonge broke away from the band. I personally think that Tom’s unique voice and input helped the band stand out from the others in their genre. When he was replaced by new band member Matt Skiba, the band really lost their sound. 

However, Quarantine had that classic Blink-182 feel without Tom’s voice needed because of the instrumental in the song. The band has been trying new sounds and beats over the years to find their new sound and evolve, but it drove me away because they began to sound like everyone else in the genre these days. 

But Quarantine went back to their classic guitar, drums, and distinct bass.  While the sounds pleased me, the lyrics were something else.  Blink-182 is known for their controversial and humorous lyrics, but this song’s lyrics are just childish.

I understand they’re using their voice to protest and put their opinion out there, but with lyrics that I cannot repeat for censorship reasons, it just sounds like it was written last minute out of anger and rebellion. And the song is 2 minutes long which is normal, but it becomes repetitive because the chorus and pre-chorus are repeated too many times. 

I would have liked to see them put more thought into writing more meaningful and motivational lyrics to help motivate their following versus swearing at you about how bad the world is. 

While I understand they’re known for doing this in their most well known and loved songs that I myself enjoy, I just dont think now is the time for it. There is so much negativity currently in this world due to the pandemic and upcoming election. I just don’t feel like getting added negativity from the artists I love. 

People use music as a coping mechanism, and/or as a distraction and escape from the struggle. So personally, I don’t want to be reminded in a negative manner how bad the world is right now. I want my music to cheer me up versus make me sadder.

With that being said, I really like the sound and it’s definitely a step in the right direction for the band. While it’s not my favorite song, it’s one of the better ones recently, despite my dislike of the lyrics. I think it was just one of those cases where it was the right thing but for the wrong time.