Take Off Your Pants And Jacket [PA]

Performer: blink-182
Engineer: Joe McGrath
Producer: Jerry Finn
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Blink 182: Tom DeLonge (vocals, guitar); Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass); Travis Barker (drums). Additional personnel: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keyboards). Recorded at Signature Sound, San Diego, California, Larrabee Studios West, Cello Studios, Hollywood, California. Website: www.blink182.com Blink 182: Tom DeLonge (vocals, guitar); Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass); Travis Barker (drums). Additional personnel: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keyboards). Recorded at Signature Sound, San Diego, California and Larrabee Studios West, Cello Studios, Hollywood, California. Not too much has changed since we last left blink-182. You might hear the same snap, crackle, and pop that the trio has prided themselves on for almost ten years. There's even the continual cabbage-patch screech of Tom Delonge and support for rampant teen angst. But five albums later, these San Diego natives grab their rosy-cheek punkadelics and add a bit more of a flamboyant, passionate maturation on Take off Your Pants and Jacket. When Enema of the State leaped onto the charts in 1999, the lyrical direction was 90 percent party-boy mentality, leaving little room for traces of a growth spurt. And while we're still feeling the continual back-drip of tracks from Enema, the fresh plethora of tunes from these rambunctious Toys-R-Us rockers have more purpose than ever. With a fight-for-your-right joviality that's often irresistible, songs like "Anthem Part 2" and "Stay Together for the Kids" house a indomitable school-kid voice where a surging vapor of knockout speed chords meet wrecking-ball percussion. The meanings are bucketed and spilled, with lines like "If we're f*cked up/You're to blame" ("Anthem Part 2"). And forget about escaping lyrics such as, "I'll never talk to you again/Unless your dad 'ill suck me off," which stems from the hilarious, almost brilliant 42-second clash called "Happy Holidays, You Bastard." "First Date" and "Roller Coaster" are only a couple of their tunes that act as therapy for post-pubescent dilemma, also present on previous efforts like Enema and Dude Ranch. Each song about the rotten girlfriend or unhip parent speaks loud and often to the 2000 MTV generation. Nevertheless, the dumped-in-the-amusement-park tone and lyrical progression are sharp, if not entertaining. The band's stint on the Vans Warped Tour, with veteran punksters such as Pennywise and Rancid, has become a supreme outlet for blink-182. Take off Your Pants is one of their finest works to date, with almost every track sporting a commanding articulation and new-school punk sounds. They've definitely put a big-time notch in the win column. ~ Darren Ratner Older and more successful but no less fascinated by the same things as their adolescent fan base (toilet humor, sex, and awkward social situations), Mark, Tom and Travis greet 2001 with another platter's worth of chugging guitar riffs, infectious hooks and plenty of moxie. The album opens with the sequel to the last cut on ENEMA OF THE STATE. "Anthem Part II" is a generational rant focusing on the hopelessness felt by teens taken lightly by the world because of their age. Blink 182 does a fine job tapping into the universal theme of unrequited love ("Story Of A Lonely Boy"), divorce ("Stay Together For The Kids") and surviving the social perils of high school cliques ("Give Me One Good Reason"). Lest this become a musical equivalent to a Judy Bloom book, Blink throws in plenty of inappropriate moments of Sandler-esque proportions. There's the 40-second, jack-hammer fast diatribe against an ex-girlfriend involving unnatural acts with her parents ("Happy Holidays, You Bastard"), ennui-killing acting out ("Reckless Abandon"), and kicking back with a cute girl at a Vans Warped Tour show. Despite their goofy rep, Blink-182's combination of vulnerable lyrics and pop smarts blow away any notion of these guys being another dumb punk band. Older and more successful but no less fascinated by the same things as their adolescent fan base (toilet humor, sex, and awkward social situations), Mark, Tom and Travis greet 2001 with another platter's worth of chugging guitar riffs, infectious hooks and plenty of moxie. The album opens with the sequel to the last cut on ENEMA OF THE STATE. "Anthem Part II" is a generational rant focusing on the hopelessness felt by teens taken lightly by the world because of their age. Blink 182 does a fine job tapping into the universal theme of unrequited love ("Story Of A Lonely Boy"), divorce ("Stay Together For The Kids") and surviving the social perils of high school cliques ("Give Me One Good Reason"). Lest this become a musical equivalent to a Judy Bloom book, Blink throws in plenty of inappropriate moments of Sandler-esque proportions. There's the 40-second, jack-hammer fast diatribe against an ex-girlfriend involving unnatural acts with her parents ("Happy Holidays, You Bastard"), ennui-killing acting out ("Reckless Abandon"), and kicking back with a cute girl at a Vans Warped Tour show. Despite their goofy rep, Blink-182's combination of vulnerable lyrics and pop smarts blow away any notion of these guys being another dumb punk band.

Rolling Stone (7/5/01, pp.135-6) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...Improving on their last album...they keep everything light, fast and punchy....They're rock & roll boys who aren't scared to sing for and about rock & roll girls....baring their painfully adolescent fragility and confusion without playing coy..." Rolling Stone (7/5/01, pp.135-6) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...Improving on their last album...they keep everything light, fast and punchy....They're rock & roll boys who aren't scared to sing for and about rock & roll girls....baring their painfully adolescent fragility and confusion without playing coy..." Q (8/01, p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Spices regulation teen angst with back-of-the-classroom toilet humor....containing some very good pop songs..."

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