7 Reasons Your Teen Years Would Have Sucked Without Blink-182

Blink-182 are back together for the kids and in the midst of a sold-out multi-stadium tour around Australia with support from Rise Against.

And whether you’re one of the lucky fans who copped tickets to the freshly reunited Tom, Mark and Travis Show or whether you missed the boat and will be forced to watch all the action unfold via your mates’ Insta stories, we thought it might be nice to pause for a second and remember all the small ~~things~~ ways our teenage years would have sucked if this endearingly crude punk rock trio had never streaked their way into our hearts.

1. They made us realise how ridiculous the whole “fame” thing was

Blink called our attention to the phoney nature of all the big-label pop bands who used to rule the airwaves back in the late 90’s, by hilariously dismantling a long list of boyband tropes in the blockbuster music video for 1999’s chart-smashing single, ‘All the Small Things’. All while poking fun at their own burgeoning popularity.

The trio mocked the pop star brand of high-budget production, badly choreographed dance moves and show-pony camera flirtation with gender-bending mischief and arse-wiping incisiveness. That took some serious bananas.

Blink 182 – ‘All The Small Things’

2. You, and every single one of your mates, may have never picked up a guitar

For those who grew up in the 90’s and early 2000’s, the iconic 1997 ‘Dammit’ riff was the first — and, in many cases, the only — thing you learned how to play on guitar. All together now: dow-nuh-now-nuh-now, dow-nuh-now-nuh-now, dow-nuh-now-nuh-now, dow-nuh-now-nuh-now…

Blink 182 – ‘Dammit’

3. They made us realise that age was just a number

Blink articulated the mounting pressures we all felt from authority figures like teachers and parents to be successful at a young age, to excel at school, graduate, and then immediately go out and make something of ourselves. After all, nobody likes you when you’re 23 and are still more amused by prank phone calls.

‘What’s My Age Again?’ revels in the joys of immaturity and points an erect middle finger and pixelated crotch squarely in the direction of anyone who tells you to grow up and conform to society’s expectations. You also may have learned what “sodomy” was.

Blink 182 – “What’s My Age Again’

4. They made it OK to be emo

The new millennium saw Blink begin to explore their more artistic side and express darker, more melancholy themes in their songs, such as 2003’s ‘I Miss You’. The tune came packing lyrics inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and its video clip showed Hoppus trading up his guitar for a double-bass and DeLonge sporting a full-blown fringe.

Actually, forget Blink saving us from getting beaten up at recess by suddenly making emo culturally acceptable. Imagine how much emo club nights in 2024 would suck without this straight-up banger blasting out of the speakers.

Altogether now in your best Tom DeLonge: “WHERE ARE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU?!?!”

Blink 182 – ‘I Miss You’

5. They gave you your first sexual awakening

Whether it was the babin’ pornstar nurse on the front cover of Enema Of The State or, if you were into dudes, the band themselves (“Imagine if you put Mark’s face on Travis’s body with Tom’s voice… ZOMG!”) Blink gave thousands of awkward zit-busters just like ourselves their first masturbatory muse.

6. They turned us on to lip piercings

Tom DeLonge did for lip rings what Slash did for top hats, Chrissy Amphlett did for schoolgirl uniforms and what Taylor Swift did for the NFL. Even if you didn’t do it, you probably considered doing it at some point.

7. They made us realise it was actually possible to survive high school

1999’s ‘Adam’s Song’ had all the feels. It’s like Blink took all the moody, depressive, angsty teenager-dom oozing out of your skin in new and exciting lumps every day, and squeezed it into one perfect song. It was the tune you blasted after you’d had a fight with your parents, or your best friend, or your teacher, and you felt like all the hope had been sucked from the world.

That simple little riff reminded us that it was OK to be alone sometimes, and it reassured us that the bad times would eventually pass, even if we managed to spill a whole fucking gallon of apple juice in the hall.