Blink-182
Dude Ranch

I don't watch MTV much. I "discovered" Blink two or three years ago, through a friend of my younger brother, who owns their latest self-titled CD. Finding it interesting, I decided to research their previous works. That's how I came to "Dude Ranch" (1997). This CD surprised me a lot; the sounds, themes, and even the vocals are very different from those heard in "Enema Of The State" and "Take Your Pants Off And Jacket," and you can hear the influence of Bad Religion and Descendents, although pop elements are also present. The line-up on this album features Tom and Mark as vocalists, with the former on guitar and the latter on bass, and Raynor on drums.

The CD opens with "Pathetic", a fast track, and "Voyeur", in which Tom describes hiding to spy on a girl with her panties down, hoping in vain to overcome his shyness and meet her. "Damn!", this was my comment when the third track started: "Dammit". It opens with a spectacular and engaging riff invented by Mark with a guitar missing 2 strings, and continues with Mark’s voice yelling what happened: he lost his girlfriend. The chorus loses a bit of intensity, a problem solved in live performances, where it's sung with Tom's husky voice. Other noteworthy tracks are "Dick Lips", "Untitled", "Apple Shampoo", "Emo", "I'm Sorry" and the very successful "Josie", whose video features a young Alyssa Milano. "Degenerate" is very amusing, talking about an alcoholic who goes to jail where the legend of the soap lingers :).

A CD to play during leisure time, to have fun: I don't know about you, but when "Dammit" starts, I run to dance like a fool! In short, a very fast album (the average track does not exceed 2 minutes and 50 seconds), of which I do not feel like recommending against any song, whose perhaps one drawback is the repetitiveness of some tracks such as "Lemmings", "Waggy", and "A New Hope". The tracks are often followed by spoken phrases, certainly funny the first few times, but very annoying on subsequent listens.

I think it's undeniable a certain musical culture of the band in question, which has covered artists like Dinosaur Jr, Billy Idol, and The Cure, and has done six years of apprenticeship and touring before achieving commercial success. Indeed, this album opens the door for the San Diego trio, who, buoyed by their success, will begin to offer increasingly pop songs and address less "obscene" and less deeply-felt subjects, to widen their product to more people. Significant in this regard is Raynor's departure, who, seeing the band's commercial direction, withdrew and was replaced by the talented Barker.

In conclusion, my rating is 3 for the album, but I give it a 4 for attachment and sympathy (the videos for "Dammit" and "Josie" are hilarious) and because at least in live performances, they can play and engage the audience. They were never a punk band like their contemporaries Casualties and New Bomb Turks, but surely this is their most successful attempt, together (in my very humble opinion) with the self-titled.