Jon Dolan of '' Rolling Stone '' considered it the band 's catchiest music since their heyday , summarizing , " At its best , '' California '' shows Blink trying new ways to freshen up yesterday 's racket . " Jon Caramanica at '' The New York Times '' found it " pleasantly familiar if not especially imaginative ... the album is full of songs that have achieved their purpose by the halfway mark . " Andrew Unterberger of '' Spin '' felt DeLonge 's presence was missed , describing it as " fine , fun , and overall kinda '' meh '' . " Aidan Reynolds from '' Drowned in Sound '' noted " California sounds like the work of a band filled with the joy of existence , giving in to every pop indulgence or production trick that could stuff in one more hook before the end . There are pick-scrapes and ' whoah-oh ' backing vocals EVERYWHERE , and even the dumb , seconds-long throwaway tracks have their own charm . " A number of reviewers found the album overly long , while others felt Feldmann was too much of an influence . Mike Damante at the '' Houston Chronicle '' said " Feldmann 's style is all over the record , as most tracks sound too formulaic , similar and run together . Other tracks are way too commercial , even for a band the size of blink . ... '' California '' is ultimately a step back , rather than a throwback . " David Anthony from '' The A.V. Club '' gave the album a C - , commenting , " '' California '' is the sound of Blink-182 desperately trying to remain relevant by outsourcing its creativity . It is another homogenous addition to Feldmann 's growing résumé . But this time he unintentionally removed the soul of pop-punk 's clown princes in the process . " Nina Corcoran from '' Consequence of Sound '' was similarly negative : " When not cranking the compression on the vocals , Feldmann ruins other songs with nonstop gimmicks : the piano interludes , the stiffened handclaps , the sappy title track . " Gwilym Mumford of '' The Guardian '' , focusing on the album 's turbulent history regarding the departure of DeLonge , deemed the album " a tired – and tiring – work . " At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards , Blink-182 were nominated for the award for Best Rock Album . '' California '' lost to Cage the Elephant 's '' Tell Me I 'm Pretty ''
59th Annual Grammy Awards
59th Annual Grammy Awards
California (Blink-182 album)