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The Classic Rock of the Future: Blink-182 In California in the early '90s, any punk with a garage, a guitar and two friends stood a pretty decent chance at national fame. When bassist Mark Hoppus, guitarist Tom DeLonge and drummer Scott Raynor began to break out of the pop-punk scene and into the mainstream, the teenage fuckups who formed the band showed real staying power. Internal conflict pushed out first a drummer then a guitarist, but the resulting side projects of almost every possible permutation of the remaining band push Blink’s album count into double digits, with a surprising versatility—especially in an era practically engineered to churn out nichefocused one-hit wonders. The first two proper albums, Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch found their audience in guys just like the band: dudes who liked to watch TV, ride skateboards and play guitars. Straightforward lyrics about girls, farting, and Star Wars weren’t ironic, or even playful. They were the real things that these guys were really interested in. The cover of Dude Ranch was a graphic drawing of a bull with a giant ball-sack sticking in the viewer’s face. They didn’t have a great deal of respect for their material, sure, but they had a whole lot of fun. The rest of the nation started to take notice when Blink-182 switched drum- mers and traded up record labels. With Travis Barker on the payroll and MCA signing the checks, Blink-182 rolled out a string of hits on the still-tastelessly titled Enema of the State. Their assault on the living rooms of American suburbia was backed up by universally enjoyed music videos for “What’s My Age Again?” and “All the Small Things” (Look ‘em up. They were pretty topical, but still damn funny, especially if you remember the '90s.) Buried in all this youthful exuberance were the seeds for what would become the rest of the band’s career. The fart and dick jokes were all there, but so was “Adam’s Song.” the down-paced suicide song that set up the style they would later take fulltilt on their 2003 self-titled album. And so was “Aliens Exist,” an introduction to Delonge’s growing interest in life beyond Earth that would form the crux of his more recent endeavor Angels & Airwaves. Enema and its follow up Take Off Your Pants and Jacket toed the line pretty consistently between earnestness and toilet humor (Jacket has “Happy Holidays,” literally a string of vomit and shit references, back to back with “Story of a Lonely Guy,” a brooding meditation on the problem with commitment) but the guys went off the serious end in 2003. The self-titled album was certainly not a band fans hadn’t seen before, but it was an album that was more consistent than any before. All the crisp production was there, but the band had grown up. Going so far as to have an interlude and to collaborate with Robert Smith to prove it. Maybe it’s pretentious, but it’s still really good. In 2002, DeLonge and Barker formed Box Car Racer to experiment with music beyond the confined of “Blink-friendliness,” and the pandora’s box they opened still hasn’t been closed. Barker, a wellknown freelancer, plays regularly with The Transplants, and Expensive Taste. Hoppus and Barker formed +44, essentially a Blink-successor. DeLonge broke off on his own to form Angels & Airwaves and a nation of fans have yet to decide if he’s kidding. If for no other reason, Blink-182 makes the list of Classic Rock of the Future by sheer volume of material. Music, documentaries, band names, and untold stories—the fate of original Scott Raynor has never been officially explained—a complete Blink-182 story is beginning to form, and it’s actually pretty compelling. And if that doesn’t cut it, then an alreadyunderway reunion tour and news of an upcoming return to the studio might even make them the classic rock of today. - Jonny Grubb ‘round the dial November 2, 2009 11
It’s Your Dime 10 questions for the CS White Grey- C=23, M=18, Y=19, K=0 by Tom Hallett photos by Jay Smiley CS White- C=0, M=0, Y=0, K=0 The Capital Sons Are: Jesse Thomas - drums / Cy Dodsonlead guitar / Keefe Russell - bass / Karl Obermeyer - lead vocals Twin Cities rockers The Capital Sons have been slowly but surely building a respectable local and regional audience since their universally-lauded, eponymous 2005 EP, and though they've undergone line-up changes, industry shifts, and meandering local music tastes in the intervening half-decade, their Westerberg-meets-Eddie Vedder style and unforgettable hooks have only benefited from these obstacles. The humorous, down-to-earth quartet took a few minutes out of their busy schedule to discuss their impossibly catchy (check out the live-wire, gut-thumping fire of tracks like “High-Heeled Boots” or the anamilistic howl of “Noose,” and you'll suss what we're saying here right off the bat) and already wildly popular new release, Dirty Neon, the aforemen- tioned in-and-out-of-band changes, and what the future holds for this powerful, undeniably-talented Twin Cities outfit... 1Who influenced you the most as a singer/songwriter musician, (You can list more than one influence) and who do you feel your current work is akin to, at least in spirit? (Keefe) Nickelback…definitely Nickelback (Karl) All kidding aside, I would have to say the two individuals that had the greatest impact on my songwriting style are Paul Westerberg and Sting. The band whose songwriting most inspired me growing up would have to be Led Zeppelin. Sting is kind of a self-absorbed Ahole, but the guy can write a song. I guess some people would probably say the same thing about Paul Westerberg. I hope that I never meet him so my image of him isn’t destroyed. And Zeppelin, I mean what else is there to say. Greatest rock band of all time in my opinion. As far as our current work being ‘round the dial November 2, 2009 13
Page 1 and 2: Also in this issue! CD Tech Talk Wi
Page 3 and 4: QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Let the futur
Page 5: The Rise of The House of Grande By
Page 9 and 10: loading and unloading gear sucks du
Page 11 and 12: Guitar Town — Tech Talk By Gary V
Page 13 and 14: 11. “Mersey Paradise” (Demo) 12
Page 15 and 16: Reel Kool Film Reviews REEL KOOL FI
Page 17 and 18: Monday Mud By Gather T. Swanson Can

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