Blink-182 Reveal Big Plans for New Album, Summer Tour

A year ago, Blink-182 began work on their first new album since 2003, and they’re still months away from being done. But fans will finally hear new songs from the reunited punk-pop trio on a summer U.S. tour with My Chemical Romance, which kicks off August 5th in Holmdel, New Jersey. “That’s what we’re most excited about,” drummer Travis Barker told Rolling Stone last night. “It’s the first time there will be new music in nine years.”

Both bands had gathered at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood – a notorious hard-rock hangout for musicians and groupies going back to the hard-partying days of Keith Moon and Led Zeppelin, and where Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister can often still be found at the end of the bar downing Jack-and-Cokes – to announce the tour.

Blink-182 will be working on their still-untitled new album virtually up until they moment they leave. “We have until July 31st to hand the record in, and I think we’ll use every single day until then, as always,” said singer-bassist Mark Hoppus.

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At this point, the band are still writing and recording new material. “We thought we were closing in on the end, and literally a week ago we pumped out a whole set of stuff that I think will be some of the best on the album,” said singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge. “Recording is never really finished. You slide or limp into home base.”

For this tour, the band plans a much larger stage production than fans might remember from the past. “We’ve never really done that before. Like most bands, we started in a bedroom,” said DeLonge. “That said, I could get up there and still make a really bad dick joke.”

A full list of tour dates is on Blink-182’s website.