With this release, added to the woeful Angels & Airwaves record from earlier this year, the former members of Blink 182 have proved, to some extent, that Blink was a band that was greater than the sum of its parts. 

Thankfully Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker have at least tried to remain in the same broad vein as their previous endeavours, however apart from one or two notable exceptions this only serves to highlight that, as a band, Blink 182 had probably given as much to pop/punk as they were ever likely to and that individually the band members don't quite have the talent or ideas to move successfully beyond these confines either, regardless of how bold their intentions might be. 

Unlike the A&A record there's not too much here that is bad, quite the opposite in fact. The album as a whole is very listenable, however there’s just not a lot to get too excited about. There are one or two attempts to break out of the pop/punk that was a Blink 182 trademark, these don’t quite work I'm sorry to say. The atmospheric intro and main theme to “Weatherman” being a complete lift of Khomas "The Guillotine"  and “155” with its up-tempo electronica laden pop/punk would seem innovative except for the fact that Weezer had the similarly inflected “This Is Such A Pity” on “Make Believe” last year. 

Where this record does score highly though is that in the more up-tempo moments there's an indication of a decent modern rock record to be had here if the band had been a little more focused and not distracted with trying to put some sonic distance between them and their past. So whilst its clear I’m still not doing somersaults over this record I can at least see a future for +44 if they can be a bit more consistent next time around.

Let us know your views on 'When Your Heart Stops Beating'

Track List

Lycanthrope
Baby Come On
When Your Heart Stops Beating
Little Death
155
Lillian
Cliffdiving
Interlude
Weatherman
No, It Isn't
Make You Smile
Chapter 13

Line Up

Mark Hoppus – Vocals/Bass
Travis Barker – Drums
Craig Fairbaugh – Guitar
Shane Gallagher - Guitar