Blink-182 Detail U.S. Tour, New Album ‘California’
Group releases catchy new song “Bored to Death,” their first without Tom DeLonge, and plan album release on 182nd day of the year
Blink 182 in 2015. Photo: Clemente Ruiz
Blink-182 released an official version of their new song “Bored to Death,” their first without founding guitarist Tom DeLonge, as a lyric video after the song leaked Wednesday.
The punk trio unveiled the song as part of a slew of news that includes a new album and sprawling U.S. summer tour. California, the band’s seventh album, will drop July 1st.
“It’s a long way back from seventeen,” the band proclaims on “Bored,” but the song sounds like their teenage years are not as far off as the punk vets think. “Bored” could be a sequel to the anthemic “The Rock Show,” one of the best songs in their roster from 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
Former Blink-182 guitarist DeLonge told Rolling Stone that despite being “bummed” he’s not part of the band’s new chapter, he wishes his bandmates well. “I love those guys,” he says, “[But] I don’t want the legacy of the band to get fucked with. I do care about that.”
In his interview with Rolling Stone, DeLonge detailed the perpetual friction within the group. “The band has always been dysfunctional,” he said. “The only time we all really communicated daily was in Blink’s first, sort of, trimester.” He said he was “blindsided” when the group issued a statement last year saying he had quit the band.
DeLonge has not spoke with the band since the announcement of his departure. “If they would have come to me and said, ‘Hey, you’re really busy right now. We really want to do something, maybe we should get someone to fill in,’ or something, I would have probably been fine with it,” he said.
The new Blink lineup kicks off its tour July 22nd in San Diego with A Day To Remember. All American Rejects will open through August 10th and All Time Low will open the dates until October 1st.
