182 ... +44 ... hike, hike!

About a month ago I went to Yahoo! Music Videos for some tunes to work to (I had hit my quota of ESPN Radio and music on file).

There was a small picture of a group of four people. I couldn't make out who was in it--but I swore one guy was Mark Hoppus of Blink182. So I clicked on it, and my video player loaded with "When Your Heart Stops Beating." Again, low quality, I couldn't get a close look at any one--it *sounded* like Mark. He played a guitar like Mark (very distinctive stance) and the mohawked tattooed drummer looked like Travis Barker.

So I searched +44. I think I pulled up a bio from wiki. And there they were: Mark & Travis sans Tom. I read further ... Blink182 had been inactive and disbanded since February 2005. What an in-touch fan I am!

I've been a fan since Enema of State--and have purchased every album since then--loving the self-titled one released in 2003.

I was just thinking to myself that three years was a long time to not have a new Blink album.

Now once I get something in my head I need more information, and it stays in my head until this bizarre fascination is satisfied.

And here's what I found ... some of it prolific:

Random article: Mark says they hit a time in their lives that need family time, time away from the road. They have wives, children that they don't see, lives they aren't living.

Yahoo! Interview: Mark says, we've hit our apex ... there's no where to go but down.

Yahoo! Interview: Tom says, I love these guys, I'm close to guys. Mark's my brother--we've grown up together. We'll always be friends.

Hmm.

Now I read that Tom left the band (I take offense that one article referred to him as frontman--pshaw!). He has his own group: Angels and Airwaves.

Mark and Travis have played with other bands, have done other projects: TV, clothing, skate gear, etc. etc.

In articles and various interviews the guys reflect that the "general public" and critics still view them as a joke band, singing about humping, making naked videos.

Yeah there's the off color humor and way out there lines ... but then there's songs that their generation relates to. Bands like Blink182 have brought the outcast skaters into the mainstream--and let us picket fence kids feel a little of the rebellion and connect to the music and make it our own.

Their music was for the teens who didn't worship Britney, Christina or Jessica. They mocked bubble gum pop and gave the rest of us an outlet.

Well ... nonetheless, I bought +44's CD and I'm anxiously waiting for it to get here!