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Blink-182
California (BMG)
Achieving what Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool couldn't, the seventh album by the Southern California pop-punk band -- and first since co-leader Tom DeLonge was replaced by Alkaline Trio guitarist Matt Skiba -- has succeeded in pushing Canadian rapper Drake's Views off the top of the Billboard album chart.
Proving... what, exactly? Certainly that the snarky, aging pop-punk band retains more audience share than might be expected, and their less-ambitious-than-Green Day three-minute rips continue to appeal to both current and former suburban youths.
The San Diego-born band's wit remains less than stellar -- I won't repeat the inane, one-line lyric of the 29-second Brohemian Rhapsody . And California's efforts to stand as a unified statement about the Golden State are feeble, though there are songs called Los Angeles , California and San Diego .
But...