No Boredom Problem At Blink 182's End

When the soundscapes billow you know you have the makings of a rocker that wants to talk about things exceeding "Hi" and "Bye". In this case Mark Hoppus wants to discuss how crippling boredom can be psychologically. In the doing he brings with him a panorama of what amounts to be unabashed resignation. He is fading fast so don't waste your breath trying to save him. He's the man for whom a Patron Saint of Lost Causes was formed. He lets the prickling irritation pass through him with the help of Travis Barker who thumps away on drums, cosmically connected to what his brother in arms is going through. Said beats are sympathetic rather than a call for Matt to shake the cobwebs off and get on with his living. Adding to that Matt Skiba pencils in guitar lines that don't exclude any facet of his instrumental range. If "Bored To Death" sounds like a dance with nihilism you'd be justified in making that claim. Matt's walked down a rocky path far from the supposedly carefree stanzas of "All The Small Things". Remember the devil may care posturing in the video? Yeah, I miss those days to. The acoustic riffs Matt starts with in an A-chord shroud of sorts set us up for the bottom of the barrel musings that follow. Matt insists nothing about this life means anything to him. One suspects the shuffling style of gait has less to do with running to than running from. Matt we hope has tried every conceivable outlet before setting up for a stay at Desperation Station but, true or not, here we stand. Travis Barker's thoroughbred style gallop only adds to the quickly shortened rope Matt has led himself to. The whole "nightmare from a dream" visualization demands shivers of some sort elevate on your spine. Is this waking dream or the nightmare Matt's powerless to awaken from. The punch brought into this song's overall speed introduces the glimmer of hope that Matt might not be as trapped behind locked mind as he sounds but only cautious optimism holds sway. Now, it's not physiologically possible to die of boredom, however it does have you agonizing over how to rescue a faceless night and imbue it with some sorely needed personality. Matt has it in spades. If only he knew his own strength and how to apply it to the best of his knowledge. Therein lies his Achilles' Heel. Matt has this longing for seventeen, an age the picked on nerd crowd would be only too happy to vacate. Waxing in the chord of fond remembrance is no new trick in the rock world but, to hear Matt tell it remembrance amounts to the lone string he's grasping at. In summation "Bored To Death" won't leave anybody in full on yawn mode. If only we could get Matta reliable therapist though.