Ahh the famous Blink 182. Too bad they have to go on an indefinite hiatus because of personal differences. Still their music lives on. You might be wondering, “why am I talking about these guys?” well, for those who don’t know, upon the break-up of blink 182. Plus 44 (or +44 as the album cover shows it) were born.

+ 44 are composed of Mark Hoppus and travis barker, former members of blink 182 (too bad tom can’t be here, well, what am I thinking. It’s blink 182 all over again) Craig Fairbough and Shane Gallagher, this people compose of +44. This album took quite a while before it was released. Some say this is some sort of steering away from the humor of their past band, which upon hearing the album is true. But then again, comparisons come into play. Probably it’s because Mark Hoppus is still on vocals (just like in 182)

Enough of the comparisons, let’s get into the songs:

The album has 14 fresh tracks, it opens up with the song Lycanthrope, an upbeat song that is (kinda) reminds me of blink 182. I told myself “am I hearing +44 or blink 182?” but then again, I continued playing the disc. The second track “ baby, come on” mellows down a little, followed by when your heart stops beating (the albums title also), little death, 155. On the other hand, Lillian sounds like (or is it me) again, don’t want to compare but an earlier blink song from their “enema of the state album”.

There’s the hi-hat thumping sound of “cliff diving” which I think is a love ballad presented in a rock way (?) the track that caught my attention to the album is entitled “no it isn’t” a little trivia about the song. According to reports, this song talks about their last days as blink 182 and a song for tom. Apparently, this song was also released on the day of the birthday of tom. Nice gift isn’t it? Well, this track caught the attention of the fans. With strong lyrics like

“this isn’t just goodbye,
this is i can’t stand you
this is where the road
crashed in the ocean”

Meaningful isn’t it?

The album ends up with “you’re my angel”, a fast track perfect to close the +44 experience

Now, what do I think? Sad to say but I miss blink a lot. Their style, sound and witty antics… +44 is like the “half-baked” version of blink 182. Overall, even though you don’t want to end up comparing this two band, it really feels like +44 is almost blink but not… still, if you want to experience the half baked version of blink, get the album. If you want to hear something new, go get the album….

Possible future singles:

• Chapter 13
• Lycanthrope
• Little death
• No, it isn’t (I think this is their current single as to date)

Overall Rating:

B

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