blink-182 - Up All Night

A momentous moment when KROQ played blink-182's eagerly anticipated new single 'Up All Night'.

Since the hiatus, nothing new has been played. No real teasers or anything but in my opinion, it was definitely worth the wait.

I was briefly skimming through blink's status and the comments they were receiving.. I definitely saw a lot of people who really liked the single, of course there were always going to be people who didn't like it but tbh, I really liked the single.

I felt it had elements of the old blink-182, Angels & Airwaves and Box Car Racer which for me is a really cool blend.

It seemed a tad heavier in my opinion, not a bad thing of course and it sounded more like a rock single than a punk single which I quite frankly, welcomed.

In some ways, I can see why people don't like the fact it comes across as something that AvA would release that would have something like 'feat. Mark Hoppus' or something but I also look at it as if this really was too Angels & Airwaves, I think Tom probably would have kept certain elements of it for AvA.

I guess when people say they don't like it because of the AvA element, I can see why but it's incredibly hard for me to agree with them because of my love for Angel & Airwaves makes it practically impossible to hate but aside from that, the facts are, it's not Angels & Airwaves.. It's blink-182, it'll be on the album and it's their latest single and I very much enjoyed the new track and can't wait to hear more new stuff and their whole album, in general.

Certain comments I simply can't stand are people who think it's not blink at all, because, well, it is. I don't know what some of these people are thinking, are they expecting them to release songs they've already released again? Some of these people speak like they're saying 'release Take Off Your Pants and Jacket'. These people make me think they're so stupid, they might actually be saying that and it's brutally painful to hear people say that because I think 'are you that stupid?'.

As for the electronic side that this song has, were people not expecting it? It comes back to them acting like they want previous albums to be released again. Tom uses electronics in Angels & Airwaves and there were certain electronic elements (such as keyboards) in +44's music and with Travis using electronics in his solo music and things, it's no real surprise this was added. Plus, so many bands do it these days which again is why I wasn't surprised.. So many bands start out with one sound where they stick too and don't explore other areas because for reasons that they chose, perhaps it was a money thing where they can't really afford to buy certain electronic gear or their genre doesn't particularly open up to that sort of thing and they want to stay true to the genre but you find as time goes on, band's do open up to adding some form of electronics/synthesizers, even deathcore bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, as they've grown, synths have been added, You Me At Six have added some synths, pretty much every band these days that are classed as 'big' and are featured a lot these days use it in some way or another.. Clearly people can't accept that.

Overall, in my opinion - rad song, can't wait to hear more, welcome back blink-182.

Sleep Patterns, Frank Turner and Friends

01:19am. I'm wide awake yet I pulled a long ass shift today.

I could be over-tired, but then again, my sleep pattern again is fucked.

Okay, so it's not the latest anybody has been awake, let alone me. There was times where I'd sit up on the Xbox or computer till 4 or 5am.. Kind of weird seeing the sun start peeking over the hills as I sit there totally engrossed in some game of either Command and Conquer, Football Manager or an Xbox game, like Battlefield or Call of Duty and talking to Adam White. Mind you, two summers ago I did watch a hell of a lot of baseball in Channel 5 until the bastards took it off. That didn't even start till like 1.30am. Good times, bed at 4am and wake up 1pm.

Of course, I am different now. I have this obsession that you waste half of your life sleeping so now I go to bed late and get up early. It doesn't do me any good some days, but at least my obsessive and compulsive brain knows I've got a good portion of the day done, even if it's just sitting around doing nothing really great with my day.

Which brings me on to my next point; Frank Turner - Reasons Not To Be An Idiot.

I love that song. Initially it was because I thought to myself, 'catchy, acoustic rock, good feel'. Then I was sitting there listening to the lyrics fully and realized that song actually speaks a lot about how my current life style is.

First verse:

'You're not as messed up as you think you are

Your self-absorption makes you messier

Just settle down and you will feel a whole lot better

Deep down you're just like everybody else'

Straight away that seems to aim something right at me. Okay, so I don't think I'm exactly 'messed up' as such, I think I'm a little whacky but that's just me. But sometimes when you have your down days and you can't help but think to yourself about all the negative points to your life.

'Just settle down and you will feel a whole lot better' - I agree with that more than anything, arguably. Sometimes when I'm having a shit day, I take 5 minutes to myself to chill the fuck out and I actually do feel a million times better.

Chorus:

'So why are you sat at home?

You're not designed to be alone

You just got used to saying "no"

So get up and get down and get outside

Cos it's a lovely sunny day

But you hide yourself away

You've only got yourself to blame

Get up and get down and get outside'

Okay, like I said, 'arguably'.. This really is my current lifestyle. Things have been kinda strange for me of late. It's topsy turvey.

I've got some great things going for me at the moment; yes, I'm a year out of sync for my age but I'm on the right track at college and finally doing something that I'm actually good at and I have a great bunch of friends, both the guys I met at college and the people I knew prior to college. My band has finally passed a huge block for ourselves recently, won't go into that too much and finally, I'm feeling more optimistic about things than I probably ever have.

The one thing about going to college that did effect me in a slightly negative way is when I moved on to meet new people and kinda cut a lot of people out of my life, it was the exact aim I wanted. The negative effect it had was that I became friends with a great bunch of people.. That didn't live in Honiton (except Jade).

So, going to college was in Exeter so I'd see everyone four times a week for a good portion of the day but when I head back to Honiton, because I didn't speak to anybody properly - it left me with not a lot of people to talk to. Without sounding too dramatic, my social life kinda dried up a little. Added to the fact people were turning 18 and going to the pub and because of this, parties dried up meant lack of knowing too many people to hang out with. All of this brings me back to my original point, that chorus is so true to what I've become.

I sit at home complaining about how I've got nothing to do and feel a tad lonely, because I also believe we're not supposed to be alone, why would we enjoy others company if we were meant to be individuals. The knock of effect with that is large too, I've ended up becoming so used to be a recluse that even when people do invite me out, I've ended up just getting 'used to saying no" '. So, I shoot myself in the foot a little.

Even when the weather is blistering hot, I stay inside. Okay, probably for my own safety, after all, the sun hates gingers so we just burn anyway.. Plus, I don't handle heat too well and get frustrated easily, even over the smallest of things. Still, whenever I do drag myself out to do something (whether it's in the heat or not), I tend to really enjoy myself. It's odd because I think this at not being able to play football properly any more is also the reason why I've lost motivation for most things. Hmmm, interesting but whatever it is, it hasn't helped me. Lack of motivation equals one thing, weight gain and to a degree, loneliness.

In all honesty, I can continue relating to the chorus because I have only got myself to blame. Not the fact I made new friends but the fact I've become quite a bit of a hermit out of my own doing, I've had chances to go out and do stuff but instead, I've chosen to stay in on Facebook and Football Manager and be bored and then complain about it.

Finally, it tells me what to do and in all honesty, that song makes me wanna do it anyway.

If you haven't checked the song out, do it. It's a good song.

Lastly, recently I got moaned at for my lack of motivation and laziness. I then got told 'maybe a girlfriend might motivate you'. Initially, I thought 'yeah, cos I'm just gonna pull one of them out of my pocket'. But then I gave it some thought, maybe one did. When I was with my last girlfriend, I spent far more time being a better friend and a half decent boyfriend than sitting on loners club Football Manager.

Of course, I kinda got too wrapped up in the idea and realized I might jump into something that I don't wanna 100% do again.

So, too prevent this, in the words of Jesse Eisenberg when he is playing Mark Zuckerberg.. 'I need something to take my mind off of it, but I need an idea'.

Yes, I have my band so I'm writing lyrics and I have a new series I'm working on but it's all for personal satisfaction.

I need an idea..