As reported by NME, the new and Tom DeLonge-free incarnation of Blink-182 is preparing to release an album. As we noted when DeLonge and the band initially split up (he denied quitting the band at the time, but either way he’s no longer part of it now), Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba has stepped in to fill the enviable role of “third guy in Blink-182”—which is a job that involves occasionally singing lead vocals, dressing like a high school kid who likes Blink-182, and adopting a weird vocal affectation.
The band has reportedly recorded five new songs, one of which is titled “Punk Rock Cliché,” and its ultimate goal is to “come up with an album.” For now, they’re just hanging out, doing punk-bro stuff, and talking about how much better things are without Tom Whatever bringing them down. Drummer Travis Barker says the new songs “sound different but still the same,” adding that they’re like a mix between Blink-182 and Alkaline Trio, which makes a lot of sense. We just hope the new songs can make up for losing great stuff like DeLonge’s verse in “I Miss You.”