Friday

It's Friday, and with 401 daily newsletters published to date, we've hit 50+ Friday happy hour-themed letters. Today, we celebrate the struggle of making it through several decades of life. A time to remember, a time to laugh, a time to listen to a new album all the way through with headphones on, turned up loud. Make it even better with an RTD cocktail in your hand, but be prepared to ice everything tomorrow. With so many unforced errors these days, in our world by the people who pretend to represent us, today is a good day to remember our voice, use it, and sing out loud.

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🤘We are here every day, and every minute you spend with us sends ripples of gratitude through our souls! 🤘

Blink 182 released their highly anticipated album, One More Time. - The band will headline the When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas this weekend before taking a tour break. Many of the songs on the new album have been released in anticipation of the Vegas festival, which will give them some familiarity with the fans if they play a few of the new tunes during their sets. The new album is a good mix of everything Blink and all the other bands the "Blink Brothers” have played with over the last 20 years. It is also a band biography that goes into a ton of real trauma and what it's like to come out the other side. A real Grown-Up version of punk rock angst stories; if we used to scream the lyrics to Dammit back in the day, 30 years later, our voice might not be as strong, but the pain is no longer confusion; it's what your soul looks like after it survived tragic loss, unimaginable sickness, massive disappointments, and the death of some of your dreams. 

A band that started out in the 90s, influenced by a mix of The Descendants and The Cure, played fast and fun with a song structure described by Tom DeLonge as a nursery rhyme played at hyper speed – grabbed the SoCal scene by the balls and went out to conquer the rest of the world. The band was fortunate in the early days to work with some amazing people, most notably producer Jerry Finn, who worked with Blink on Enema of the State, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and the Untitled album. Most would argue those three albums are the Blink 182 sound, and one of the best things about the new album is that sound is all over it. 

Many bands who continue to produce new music after decades of being together grow out of their early sound; bands like U2, R.E.M., and The Cure all experimented with different sounds and went in a few different directions. U2 famously went into a weird Pop phase in the 90s and returned to a more guitar, bass, drums, and vox sound with 2000s All That You Can’t Leave Behind and were rewarded for it.

Blink 182 has grown; they are better musicians, songwriters, and performers, but for some of us, 30 years later, they've kept the winning recipe, great hooks, down-stroke guitars (both bass and lead guitars), and the Travis Barker secret drum sauce. The songs are filled with energy, angst, and emotion; the subject matter is more lives lived, but they are still simple nursery rhymes played fast.

If you were a Blink teen or twenty-something and 30 years have passed, you too have more of your family and professional life behind you than in front of you. We have yet to be retired, but AARP has sent us the magazine, and whenever we get the chance to jump into our cars and blast our favorite playlist, Blink will be somewhere on it. Today, we appreciate Blink for their story, their struggle, and their music… One More Time…

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Friday, and we always highlight happy hour. Today, PUNCH Drink does the hard work of testing many cocktails in the Ready To Drink category for your review. It was hard to take the list seriously after seeing a write-up on a Grey Goose Marini in a (ready-made) bottle!? But we plan to test the Night Owl's Espresso Martini – you can make a good martini at home with simple ingredients. A good espresso martini is tougher at home, and who wants to make espresso for an at-home or on-the-go cocktail. The best espresso martinis are definitely found at a bar that knows how to make them, but this RTD version might be a good go-between.

Speaking of a life well-lived, the New Yorker put out a great humor piece describing the new pains of middle age. Some of us relate to the new pains; they come with age and experience. Here are a few things you can look forward to on your journey to middle age:

See more middle age side spitters here:

One More Time... Blink 182 - The Album.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

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🤘We are here every day, and every minute you spend with us sends ripples of gratitude through our souls! 🤘

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

5 minutes of good cheer every day. Become a Fan to get daily posts and updates.

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