On his full-length debut, 2021's rambunctiously hooky
Tell Me About Tomorrow, singer
Jaden Hossler (aka
Jxdn) sounds like the punky, confident little brother of
blink-182. The comparison makes sense as the album features
blink-182 drummer
Travis Barker who produced, co-wrote, and plays on all the tracks.
Hossler even samples
blink's 2003 song "Feeling This" to nice effect for his own "Wasted Year." Also emerging as a kind of big brother figure is
Machine Gun Kelly, who lends his burnished emo-croon to the anthemic "Wanna Be."
Hossler, a Tennessee native, sings with the kind of defiant nasal tone that marks some of the best punk-pop. It's a sound he excels at throughout
Tell Me About Tomorrow as he details his issues with mental health, drugs, and relationships both good and bad. The latter-half of the album dips more toward the moody hip-hop and rap-influenced approach of artists like
Blackbear and
Juice WRLD, but the songs remain engaging. Underpinning all of
Tell Me About Tomorrow is
Barker's taut muscular drumming and adept production, lending both a credibility and slick studio-sheen to
Jxdn's irresistible pop-punk songs. ~ Matt Collar
