You know you've cracked the showbiz world when the news breaks that you have your own bona fide stalker. That such an event should have recently overtaken blink-182 drummer Travis Barker sends out a great many screwball signals from the States - not least the fact that a sticksman with many tattoos and a collection of piercings in a thrashy rock band should become such a target tells you how glamorous the American alterno rock scene has become.
And let's face it, in spite of their snottiest endeavours, blink-182 ooze glamour. Their press release lists all the awards ceremonies the trio have played since the 'Enema Of The State' album ransacked the American charts in 1999. Their videos are brazen attempts to parody the very industry they've invaded, yet end up looking like expensive tributes to their contemporaries.
And, no matter how hard they try to take us back with them to San Diego in 1993 where all that the threesome aspired to was the next do-the-right-thing punk rock seven inch single release, 'Take Off Your Pants And Jacket' is most assuredly a record which has been cunningly designed to appeal to the global marketplace.
Admittedly, as Limp Bizkit have proven, when your audience is stuffed with snotty teenagers sticking two fingers up to their parents, appealing to the global marketplace is hardly rocket science. The band would have us believe that this, their fourth album, is more punk rock than anything they've done before, but the punk which the UK appropriated from New York's CBGB-orientated scene in the '70s never dreamed of having a commercial sheen like blink-182.
In fact, on the musical front blink-182 are more reminiscent of the Beach Boys than the Sex Pistols: a very, very fast and tasteless Beach Boys, admittedly, but those massed harmonies and that glossy production are the pop perfectionist's fantasy taken to its logical conclusion.
Lyrically, blink-182 are on safe ground: life sucks, girls dump you and swearing is great. Fittingly, much of 'Take Off Your Pants...' roars by in a blur of cheeky hooks, cheery riffs and frighteningly fast drumming. Even more fittingly, ninety per cent of this album sounds like a soundtrack to a slightly gormless, hugely successful American teen movie. The Clash once ranted about knowing your rights. Blink-182 obviously know their demographic.
The interesting bit: in the midst of this whirlwind of fratboy cussing and comedy hardcore capers (see virtually every track) there is a song called 'Stay Together For The Kids' which momentarily removes blink-182 from the world of the wun-chew-free-fore intro by dint of its dynamics, its intelligence and its colossal wall of raging sound. This is the most interesting noise on here by miles, so is it any coincidence that 'Stay Together...' should happen to be the longest track on the album? That's right. It lasts for almost four minutes...
