Review- Blink 182- Dogs Eating Dogs

Band- Blink 182
Album- Dogs Eating Dogs
Release Date- December 18th, 2012
Reviewed by: Joe Hale

Towards the back-end of last year, pop-punk legends Blink-182 released an EP titled ‘Dogs Eating Dogs’, their first release since 2011’s slightly underwhelming comeback album ‘Neighborhoods’.

Despite the critics that this EP may have, I think that the tracks are actually very, very good. They may have moved from the early pop-punk sound, but they manage to combine not only a more mature Blink sound, but captivate influences from both Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker’s band when Blink-182 broke up, +44, and Tom DeLonge’s post-Blink band, Angels and Airwaves.

The EP starts with the slow starting ‘When I Was Young’, which kicks in with Barker’s crisp hi-hats, and the switching between lines in the chorus, a typically Blink-182 trait, really excels the song, especially as they did not record the previous album together, you can hear the unity and bond between Hoppus and DeLonge’s vocals in this track, but throughout too.

The title track, ‘Dogs Eating Dogs’ shows big resemblances between +44’s ‘Lycanthrope’ with a fast start, and the lyrics mainly being occupied by former +44 lead singer Mark Hoppus, introducing DeLonge in the chorus of the songs. This song is in which Hoppus features most prominently vocally, as DeLonge takes the lead for the majority of the other songs, but as said, their vocal interchanges really stands out.

‘Disaster’, the third track, is the more Angels and Airwaves inspired track from the album, featuring delayed guitar, synthesisers and the more mysterious sound, in which Hoppus reminds me very much of The Cure lead singer Robert Smith when he featured on their 2004 self-titled album, in ‘All Of This’.

The fourth song from the EP is ‘Boxing Day’, an acoustic piece added to the collection, and really focuses on the vocals by not having the heavy guitar or drums in the background. It is a relatively upbeat song, despite the lyrics saying ‘you left me on the day after christmas’. It is a shame that it is titled ‘Boxing Day’ as people may remember it as a Christmas themed song, however it is a great song in it’s own right, and really brings Blink out of their shell.

The final song is ‘Pretty Little Girl’ talking about loving someone over a long period of time, and growing up together. I feel that this allows all different ages audiences can then identify with the song, as it talks about different stages of their life and love. Some people may not be too keen on it, but I think Barker’s ‘Psycho White’ partner Yelawolf’s rapping appearance fits really well, and really brings a whole new dimension, and unseen side of Blink-182’s music.

Overall I think it is an incredible EP, and it is exciting to see this could be the sign of what the (expected) 2013 album could be like. So if you want to go out and buy this EP but need a spare bit of extra cash, go visit musicMagpie and sell your old CDs, and add this beauty to your collection.