“I heard it once, I’m sure I heard it twice
My dad used to give me all of his advice
He would say you gotta turn your back and run now
Come on son, you haven’t got a chance now” -Blink-182, Dumpweed
“We never worry about the big things, just the small things” -Travis Barker (Drums)
Blink-182 is all the angst you might need. I would consider them “Pop-Punk”, but they find no shortage of teenage angst in their music, or constantly sounding like that song you are listening to could be in the American Pie series of movies (it may be).
When I think of Enema of the State I can only think of my American Pie movie series extravaganza with former teammate Andrew Schilling. In watching those movies, he could sing along to all of the soundtrack, name many of the songs, and I had no clue what they were, but I enjoyed their “spunkiness”.
Mutt is the song from this album that is within the first movie, but all of these songs carry a very similar vibe. They are a combination of anger, sadness, hormones bursting, and high energy that create messages about juvenile behavior, uneasiness towards adulthood, and their romantic stressors.
This album is 35 minutes of great songs filled with passion. This is not everyone’s type of music, but it found its way to me through my good friend Andrew Schilling. I now actually have a playlist titled, “Schilling’s Teenage Angst”, so the entire genre was opened to me by him, and my favorite band within the playlist is now Blink-182, so I had to choose this album!
What’s My Age Again? and All the Small Things are undoubtedly the most well recognized songs on this album. However, I really enjoy The Party Song, Don’t Leave Me, and Wendy Clear are the real sleepers of this album. Finally Adam’s Song is a powerful song about overcoming depression and trying to fit in, which is a little darker.
I really hope that you can allow for some truly transgressive music into your ears and that you enjoy. While I come to think of it, you should probably read from my friend that is an even bigger fan and the reason I love this band: Andrew Schilling!
As far as I’m concerned, Enema of the State is Blink-182’s best and most iconic album. For starters, it was their first project to feature the core members of the band, including Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker. The band just hasn’t been the same for me since Tom left in 2015.
While Blink-182 had shown some success with their previous albums (specifically, Dude Ranch’s “Dammit”), Enema of the State is the project that established them as pop punk all-stars. Although most of the songs are insanely catchy, I also see this album as having the same angsty, punk energy as the other early Blink albums, before their sound became more mature and refined.
Blink-182’s music has always been about demonstrating that growing up sucks, and no album shows it better than Enema. Specifically, this album is about seeing everyone around you growing up, and realizing you don’t really fit in anymore.
This is shown in the final verse of “What’s My Age Again?” when Mark sings, “That’s about the time that she broke up with me/ No one should take themselves so seriously/ With many years ahead to fall in line/ Why would you wish that on me?” Another example comes in “Dysentery Gary,” where Tom describes the frustrations of a girl choosing the popular guy over a “nice guy” like himself. “Life just sucks, I lost the one/ I’m giving up, she found someone/ There’s plenty more, girls are such a drag.” Overall, I just love this album’s relatable lyrics about what it’s like not fitting in, as well as its angsty, dark humor.
Angsty enough for ya?
-Jacobs (Noah)
Fatstacks 
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