Jock Rock

By Benjamin Nugent

In 1990, when the members of the San Diego pop-punk trio Blink-182 were teens, punk rock was composed by outcasts for outcasts--it was music about being abnormal. The title of a song by English punks UK Subs said it all: You Don't Belong.

The overall message of Blink-182's new CD, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (MCA), can be summed up as "You belong." This is a form of punk that tries to speak to jocks as strongly as it speaks to weirdos. The simplicity, profanity and high velocity associated with punk rock are all in place, but the subject matter is often the stuff of Freddie Prinze Jr. movies. Nearly every song is concerned with a universal adolescent experience: a terrifying first date; a holiday with grotesque relatives; a romance at a rock concert. Anthem Part Two presumes to whine on behalf of everybody under 18: "Corporate leaders, politicians/ Kids can't vote, adults elect them... If we're f___ed up, you're to blame." As John McCain does with the G.O.P., singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge, 25, singer/bassist Mark Hoppus, 29, and drummer Travis Barker, 25, want to make punk a big tent.

The problem is that to make its punk rock accessible, Blink-182 coats the music with studio effects until it's too smooth to evoke the miseries of high school. The tirades against priggish adults on this CD are unconvincing because the music seems afraid to offend the ears of stuffy establishment types. If you're so screwed up, one wants to ask, how come you sound so well adjusted?

--By Benjamin Nugent