Everyone loves a party, so most people love a party band. That's why SoCal's Blink-182 have enjoyed a relatively long life in the ephemeral world of punk rock: They know how to make being pissed off sound as inviting as the pop of a beer-can tab. Bassist-vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist-vocalist Tom Delonge and drummer Travis Barker have a swell time on their third album, singing about sexual frustration ("Dumpweed"), alienation (the power-pop-y "All the Small Things") and the sucky, suicidal state of the world (the piano-laced "Adam's Song"). The minimalist rat-a-tat-tat rhythms never falter; the guitar boings up and down like a sonic Superball. It's all harmless but still gnarly enough to foment the kind of anti-everything rebellion that spawned rock & roll way back in the day. Sometimes feeling good doesn't demand more than a sense of collective ennui or a "bouquet of clumsy words/A simple melody" ("Going Away to College"). Blink-182 have the formula down, and for that, if nothing else, more power to 'em.

“Satisfied”

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.