Blink-182’s upcoming Dogs Eating Dogs EP may not arrive until December 18, but the pop-punkers have already unwrapped the five-song collection’s first single, the surprisingly folky “Boxing Day.” The four-minute strummer, which debuted on BBC Radio 1 today (December 10), finds the trio abandoning the prog leanings of 2011’s Neighborhoods for acoustic instrumentation and seasonal sentimentality. “I’m empty like the day after Christmas / Swept beneath the wave of your goodbye,” bassist Mark Hoppus sings. “You left me on the day after Christmas / There’s nothing left to say and so goodnight.” The bratty “Bah, humbug!” of “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas” this isn’t.
The newly independent So Cal pranksters may soon return to their signature low-brow sing-alongs, though. When speaking to Billboard, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge said, “We’re connected and laughing and making jokes and making fun of each other, and really having strong debates whether or not we should have a whole chorus about penises.” He added, “I mean that’s what Blink was always good at: Taking a great song and making it into a dick joke… But we never did that on Neighborhoods. There was no laughing on Neighborhoods. There were no dick jokes.”
But don’t expect the Angels & Airwaves leader to let go of his lofty ambitions for the supposedly eclectic new EP. “It sounds like a very progressive punk-rock band,” DeLonge said. “It’s prog-rock and punk all coming together and it’s very modern and relevant.”
The new stuff is available in three different holiday-themed formats: the “Santa’s Lap Package” ($99.99) comes with the Dogs Eating Dogs EP, a limited-edition Blink-182 print by artist Brandon Heart, a holiday edition Blink t-shirt, holiday wrapping paper, and a Blink-182 holiday card; the “Nice Package” ($54.99) includes the digital EP, a holiday edition Blink-182 fleece, and the aforementioned wrapping paper and card; and the “Naughty Package” ($19.99) secures the digital EP, holiday edition t-shirt, and card. Fans who pre-order any one of those holiday packages will get a free download of “Boxing Day” tomorrow, according to a tweet from Hoppus. Happy holidays, you bastards.
