New religion

Blink 182 pay respect to SoCal punk

by Don Fluckinger

If they take themselves too seriously, a punk band run the risk of looking stupid. Blink 182 don't do that -- bandleader Mark Hoppus comes out right away and makes that clear. Take, for example, his exercise regime: Hoppus is concentrating his workout on his right butt cheek. "I try to eat right, and I work out a couple of times a week . . . and I could kick your ass with it right now!"

Blink 182's juvenile toilet humor (check out the last track on their latest CD, Dude Ranch, in which a band member can be heard urinating in a toilet and then calling his dog over for a drink before flushing) and lighthearted tunes explore the trials of growing up and getting laid. They've caught the punk-world's fancy, attracting fans from San Diego, their hometown, all the way to Worcester, where they'll play the Palladium tonight along with Unwritten Law, Assorted Jellybeans, and River Phoenix.

Although punk has many different splinters, branches, and fashion accessories, Blink 182 fit in the ever-expanding pop-punk genre, like their elder southern California brethren NOFX and the Descendents. Still, Blink 182 write songs they think work for them -- without attempting to appeal to any single group of fans.

"We don't like to categorize ourselves, playing for a particular audience, trying to write songs for them," Hoppus says. "We just write whatever music we like, and whatever factions choose to listen to our music, we're stoked. We write for everybody." Everybody, that is, who would think it's funny to put the backside of a bull on a CD cover; its massive jewels swinging in the wind.

Hoppus has worked his lopsided butt off -- as has the rest of the band -- to earn the popularity that's come their way. Dude Ranch went gold, and the group netted a radio hit with "Dammit." The group's success is a testament to the enduring strength of punk rock, which still strikes a chord with teens disenfranchised from the popular crowd or disenchanted with what pop radio's got to offer. Twenty years after it emerged on the scene there's no such thing as new punk rock. Yet there's still great punk being made by groups like Blink 182, and its chief ingredients still are the slam-bang energy of youth funneled into three chords and sung by the requisite raspy lead vocalist.

Unfortunately, a limited musical palette means that practically every new band sound derivative. That's not bad in itself, but when unoriginal music meets cocky youth, punk groups somehow take the credit and act as if they invented a whole new sound. Then they look stupid.

Blink 182 harbor no such delusions of grandeur. Giving credit to the SoCal bands they grew up listening to on the skate-punk scene, Hoppus says the Descendents, NOFX, and Bad Religion had a huge impact on his band -- and if Blink 182's new-found popularity brings recognition to those punk progenitors, he says it's a great honor for him. That attitude has helped them make them friends in the punk community.

"The thing I like about them is that they're not under any illusion as to their influences and their roots and stuff," says Bill Stevenson, who started playing guitar in the Descendents long before Blink 182 drummer Scott Raynor was born. "We'd be on the Warped Tour, and we'd walk by them. [Hoppus] would be like `Hey, Bill, how you doing? We totally ripped you guys off.' They're very well grounded, and in that way I have more admiration for what they're doing than some other bands . . . who ripped us off, who literally said [the Descendents] suck and that they don't sound like us."

Originally named just "Blink," the group ran into trouble when an Irish techno band of the same name found out about them. Rather than fighting a court battle, the San Diego punks added "182" to their name, a completely random number. Although there was a little confusion when the Irish Blink came out with a new record, Blink 182 draw more comparisons to NOFX than anyone else.

"We're fast, we're poppy, and we're good humored, so I guess that's comparable," says Hoppus of their similarities to NOFX, ever the diplomat, explaining how real SoCal punk fans would never confuse them. "But if you listen to the music, their style is different from ours. It's like anything. If you don't listen to heavy metal and you listen to a couple of heavy metal bands you'll say, `Those guys sound exactly alike.' But if you're into heavy metal, you'll be able to see the differences."

Blink 182 appear at 8 p.m. on October 2 at the Palladium with Assorted Jellybeans, Unwritten Law, and River Phoenix. Tickets are $13.50 for this all-ages show. Call 797-9696.