Angels & Airwaves

It was the dumbest luck that, just as Blink-182 started to get interesting they fell out and went on indefinite hiatus. Sicker still that, despite the fulsome Boxcar Racer side-project, Tom DeLonge’s full-time sequel should turn out to be such an embarrassing howler. Angels & Airwaves labour under the illusion that ‘mature’ equals ‘worthwhile’; and that means long, directionless songs swathed in echo pedals and factory-set keyboards. ‘Breathe’ aims for the U2 of ‘The Joshua Tree’, but ends up more like Mike & The Mechanics. And when Blink’s old melodic spark does surface on ‘Everything’s Magic’, it’s suffocated by the sheer bloody dreariness of the delivery. It’s all vaguely reminiscent of a man replacing a compass tattoo with a skin graft that goes horribly wrong. That doesn’t make you more of a man, Tom, it just makes you look stupid.

Scott Evil

3 out of 10