Blink 182 - Dogs Eating Dogs EP Review

rating: 4.5

With a week before Christmas, this pop punk trio decided to give us a little Christmas present. On December 18th, the band released their "Dogs Eating Dogs" EP, which contains five songs that are overwhelmingly better than their previous album "Neighborhoods." That album did produce some good blink songs, but the disconnect between them was obvious as some of the songs just felt forced and out of place, which could happen when all three of the band members barely spent anytime together in the studio while that album was recorded. This EP was different, as they basically locked themselves in a studio for a week, and what came out was the blink-182 we all know and love. The EP opens up with the song "When I Was Young" which is basically a song reminiscing on the good ol' days when you're a child and it felt like there wasn't any worry in the world. This song brings back the familiar fast drums and power chords that blink is popular for, but it also sets the tone for the rest of the EP, and shows what is to come with the next four songs. It also manages to incorporate synth and keyboard the way it should be, subtle and not overbearing, which was another problem with the last full length they put out. It felt like if there wasn't any synth on a song, Tom made sure to find a place for it, and much of the time it felt forced. Not the case this time, and those problems have been beautifully corrected. After that is the title track of the EP "Dogs Eating Dogs." If anyone is familiar with Mark's side project, +44, they'll easily identify this as a song that could've went on their only record, but it is a good one nonetheless. Blink keeps with the power chord trend, and this song even reminds me of the song "Go" off their self-titled effort with the music in it. The lyrics are superb as this is the only song where Mark takes the lead on vocals and he makes the best of it, as it's basically about exactly what the title suggests, a song questioning people and why it seems like we're so quick to hurt each other these days. This whole EP takes on a depressed mood of sorts, which is evident in the next song, "Disaster," which is the saddest of the songs. It is also probably the best song on this EP, and is the first to really show Tom's side project, Angels and Airwaves, and its influence on him and his music, as one of the riffs sounds like it was taken straight out of Ava's "Everythings Magic" song. This song is a depressing one that talks about death, which is evident in the lyrics "What do you fear my love?/Your soul it will float like a dove/Your words they won't scream loud enough/Your lips they will stutter with flavor/You can't shake the taste of the blood/Hold on you're breaking up." It's a very sad song when the lyrics are read but a great one nonetheless, and the best one here. The next song is a folksy kind of song that, in my opinion, is really a love song between Tom and Mark. It clearly depicts the breakup of the band, using the lyrics "We could reignite/Like fireflies/Like an atom bomb at all hours," as an example of what will happen when they get back together. It is called "Boxing Day" because the last show that was cancelled before they broke up was on Boxing Day, and Mark sings about how "You left me on the day after Christmas." Although it's funny to think about how they're singing the song to each other, it is an amazing song, and is an acoustic one. One constant in everything that blink has put out is the fact that Tom always sings on the last song of the album, and he likes to go out with a bang, and "Pretty Little Girl" is no exception, and has even become one of my favorite songs. Using delay to create a perfect little riff for the intro and verses, Tom sings about a relationship from the start all the way to growing old, depicting its great points and the struggles. If any song sticks to me for awhile, it'll be this one. This song also does something that blink has done only once before in their career, which is having a guest singer for the song, and this time it is the rapper Yelawolf. Although not many fans like it, and I agree that it seems to be awkwardly put into the song, I like the part when it is seperated from the song, so I can deal with it being in the song. Overall, this is something great to listen to for blink fans after the disappointment of their last album, and is something we can listen to while we anxiously wait for their next full length effort, due out in 2013. If I had to grade this, I would give it a 4.5/5 and I hope that blink continues to write like this for the future, because we may really not have seen the best of blink-182 yet.