Simple Creatures
Strange Love

Simple Creatures is the new side project of that funny guy Markus Allan Hoppus, the bassist/singer and sole survivor of the original lineup of the American pop-punk band blink-182.
Originally conceived by Hoppus himself as a collective of artists to rotate in various studio sessions, they find in Alex Gaskarth, frontman of the decent All Time Low (one of the many bands influenced by the blink phenomenon explosion), the ideal partner to entrust with the task of curing the apathy and depression in which, according to him, Mark fell into in 2017 upon returning home after the end of the last tour with Matt Skiba and Travis Barker.
The hybrid that emerges is an electro-pop duo destined to divide the fans of their respective bands as much as to shake the behinds of countless unaware and occasional listeners.

"Strange Love" is the first official EP of the Anglo/Californian combo, released on March 29 on none other than MBG.
It consists of 6 tracks that have nothing to do with the musical extraction of origin of the two, entirely composed with four hands and deliberately distant from the genre of belonging of blink-182 and All Time Low.

The opening track has been online for a few weeks now and is titled "Drugs".
The "Na na na" so dear to Mark Hoppus reminds in this formula of Pink's "So What", just to clarify the above concept.
Distorted guitars and drum machines support Hoppus's exaggeratedly pitched singing until the chorus, where Alex decides to do his thing without too many embellishments.
The vocals will alternate in the second part of the track both in terms of the verse-chorus sequence and in the use of effects without any dramatic twists.
The result is a piece that might not look out of place on rotation on major networks, evidently the intended purpose of the single.

It continues with the track that gives its title to the EP: the synth-pop of the "Strange Love" verse vaguely resembles Hoppus's previous side project, +44’s "The Weatherman," while the chorus lights up the party atmosphere with a metric inspiration that is not completely clear, perhaps inspired by Kevin Lyttle's "Turn Me On".
We're only at the start of the EP and we've already identified the chart-busting track.

"How To Live" is the "Fifty Shades of Grey" soundtrack that the duo would have composed had they been commissioned and has nothing to envy to Ellie Goulding's hit while "Adrenaline" sounds like a track by The Cure rearranged to be sung by a random Kelly Clarkson and from which Hoppus and Gaskarth's background as musicians emerges better than in the preceding tracks.

The same cannot be said for "Ether", quite insipid even for an Ariana Grande album tracklist.
"Lucy" brings to mind the early solo days of Robbie Williams, except for the terrifying rap part by Mark Hoppus, and wraps up a six-track that should be taken as it is, overall excellently produced and perfectly in line with contemporary pop productions and from which little more was to be expected than what's offered.

For blink-182 and All Time Low fans, the good news is that from today Mark and Alex have a new band in which to unleash their pop vein, in the hope that electronic incursions remain confined to this side project.