While having super-catchy tunes that can both hit a funny bone and an aching personal note have certainly been one reason blink-182 have become pop-punk icons, it’s impossible to discount the impact their videos have had in helping launch them into superstars. The goofy, self-deprecating humor of Enema of the State singles like “All the Small Things” and “What’s My Age Again” made them TRL mainstays and won them fans across the spectrum.
It’s this reason that the wait for the first real music from their upcoming album Nine felt so dramatic. First single “Blame it On My Youth” only received a lyric video, while “Generational Divide”‘s brief performance shoot was well-shot but felt more like an appetizer.
Enter “Darkside”. On first viewing, you may ask yourself what you just saw. The song itself is one of the band’s darker tunes, sung from the point of view of someone in love with a drug addict and willing to follow her down a dark path just to be with her. So when the video starts, the first thing we see of course is….a super-cheery young girl in a red and black school uniform doing the floss? Shot with some impressive one-takes at the beginning, the camera roams in and out of a school auditorium, lead around by exuberant school children doing simple, silly choreo around the band’s performance. And damn it’s hypnotic! The weird juxtaposition of their glazed-on smiles and happy dances against the song’s moody melodies makes for a captivating dynamic.
Watch the video above, stream the song below, and the rest of the album when it drops this Friday.
