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Dogs Eating Dogs
Dogs Eating Dogs is an EP by American rock band Blink-182, released on December 18, 2012. Self-funded and issued independently following the band’s departure from Interscope Records, the project was distributed through guitarist Tom DeLonge's digital platform, Modlife. The EP emerged during a period of ongoing internal tensions, with the band members seeking to reconnect creatively after the fragmented development of their previous album, Neighborhoods. DeLonge championed Modlife as a new model for music distribution, but the other band members were hesitant to integrate the platform, fearing it might complicate or detract from their creative efforts.
The recording process for Dogs Eating Dogs was condensed, with the band writing, recording, mixing, and mastering five songs in just over a month. Sessions were held at DeLonge's Neverpants Ranch studio in San Diego and drummer Travis Barker's Opra Music Studios in Los Angeles, with co-producer Chris Holmes engineering the tracks across both locations. Musically, the EP blends punk with progressive elements, incorporating electronic drums, acoustic textures, hip-hop influences, and experimental instrumentation. Song topics include post-holiday ennui (the single "Boxing Day"), and a song for DeLonge's wife, "Pretty Little Girl", which features a guest appearance from rapper Yelawolf.
Dogs Eating Dogs was initially released digitally with accompanying fan-focused holiday bundles and later saw a limited physical release on vinyl in 2020. The EP received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its cohesion, energy, and willingness to experiment, with several commentators describing it as an underrated entry in the band's discography. Commercially, the release debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200. Retrospective assessments have emphasized the EP's creative vitality amid a transitional era in the band's saga. It was the band's last studio recording with DeLonge until 2022.
Blink-182 reunited in 2009, generating widespread excitement with their return to touring and public appearances. However, reconnecting creatively proved challenging. Each member had pursued separate projects during the hiatus, leading to conflicting schedules and diverging priorities. These challenges manifested during the recording of their 2011 album Neighborhoods, which was largely produced remotely across multiple studios in California, with ideas exchanged via email rather than in person. Band members later reflected that the process was disjointed, with limited collaboration and communication, resulting in creative friction and the resurfacing of old tensions and resentments.
Both the band and its label, Interscope Records, were reportedly disappointed with the performance of what was termed a comeback album. By October 2012, the band parted ways with Interscope, becoming independent artists for the first time since their early career. Guitarist Tom DeLonge was ecstatic about the move, posting the news to Twitter and likening it to "freedom". Just weeks before Dogs Eating Dogs entered production, bassist Mark Hoppus publicly suggested that new Blink-182 music was unlikely to materialize anytime soon. Speaking in October, he remarked that the band’s next full-length release "probably [wouldn't] happen for about a year," noting their demanding tour schedule.
Dogs Eating Dogs emerged during a period of ongoing internal tensions within the band. The idea to record new material arose during Blink-182's 20th Anniversary Tour in mid-2012, when drummer Travis Barker proposed that the members regroup in person. Around the same time, Tom DeLonge arranged a "band summit" in Utah intended to address lingering conflicts; according to DeLonge, the meeting, which was meant as a focused retreat, ended up being a brief and awkward session held in a casino dressing room. Hoppus and Barker had grown skeptical of DeLonge's motivations for being in the band, surmising that his increasing focus on tech ventures—especially his digital platform Modlife—suggested he saw Blink-182 more as a financial engine than a creative priority. Modlife, a subscription-based fan-access service that DeLonge championed as a forward-thinking alternative to traditional music distribution, became a major point of conflict. For DeLonge, the service was a way to artists to build revenue in a post-Napster age, rather than relying on third-parties. Hoppus and Barker resisted incorporating Blink-182 into Modlife, believing it blurred personal business with the band's identity and risked monetizing fan engagement in ways they found exploitative. In his memoir, Hoppus acknowledges that DeLonge may have been ahead of his time in building the service, and that their unwillingness to get onboard put DeLonge in an awkward position.
This disagreement triggered ongoing arguments within the band, culminating in October 2012 when DeLonge proposed that Blink release a holiday EP—an idea Hoppus and Barker initially welcomed until DeLonge revealed he intended the release to run through Modlife. Despite their reservations, they relented, and development began on what became Dogs Eating Dogs. The EP was conceived, recorded, mixed, and mastered in just over a month, compared to the two years it took to complete the previous album. All the songs were tracked at DeLonge's Neverpants Ranch studio in San Diego and Barker's Opra Music Studios in Los Angeles. Co-producer Chris Holmes became the conduit between the members; in a podcast interview, he notes that he engineered the sessions between both studios, frequently driving between and sleeping occasionally. Rolling Stone reported that the trio met for four days in Los Angeles in November 2012 to develop the songs. Free from label oversight, the band approached the project with a sense of autonomy. Barker found the sessions as a revitalizing return to collaborative recording after the fragmented process behind Neighborhoods. Years later, Hoppus agreed; in his memoir, he writes that "The energy was supportive and enthusiastic. We sounded like an angsty, pissed-off blink-182. This was what it was all about. These moments of connection and creativity."
DeLonge privately viewed the EP as a "test" to see if the band could truly repair their relationship. After the band split with DeLonge, Hoppus acknowledged that he flew from his London home to Los Angeles on short notice for to make the EP, framing it as the type of sacrifice he and Barker made to keep the band functioning, despite tension. DeLonge later argued that he led much of the studio work over a two-month period, with Hoppus and Barker participated for roughly "eleven days."
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Dogs Eating Dogs
Dogs Eating Dogs is an EP by American rock band Blink-182, released on December 18, 2012. Self-funded and issued independently following the band’s departure from Interscope Records, the project was distributed through guitarist Tom DeLonge's digital platform, Modlife. The EP emerged during a period of ongoing internal tensions, with the band members seeking to reconnect creatively after the fragmented development of their previous album, Neighborhoods. DeLonge championed Modlife as a new model for music distribution, but the other band members were hesitant to integrate the platform, fearing it might complicate or detract from their creative efforts.
The recording process for Dogs Eating Dogs was condensed, with the band writing, recording, mixing, and mastering five songs in just over a month. Sessions were held at DeLonge's Neverpants Ranch studio in San Diego and drummer Travis Barker's Opra Music Studios in Los Angeles, with co-producer Chris Holmes engineering the tracks across both locations. Musically, the EP blends punk with progressive elements, incorporating electronic drums, acoustic textures, hip-hop influences, and experimental instrumentation. Song topics include post-holiday ennui (the single "Boxing Day"), and a song for DeLonge's wife, "Pretty Little Girl", which features a guest appearance from rapper Yelawolf.
Dogs Eating Dogs was initially released digitally with accompanying fan-focused holiday bundles and later saw a limited physical release on vinyl in 2020. The EP received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its cohesion, energy, and willingness to experiment, with several commentators describing it as an underrated entry in the band's discography. Commercially, the release debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200. Retrospective assessments have emphasized the EP's creative vitality amid a transitional era in the band's saga. It was the band's last studio recording with DeLonge until 2022.
Blink-182 reunited in 2009, generating widespread excitement with their return to touring and public appearances. However, reconnecting creatively proved challenging. Each member had pursued separate projects during the hiatus, leading to conflicting schedules and diverging priorities. These challenges manifested during the recording of their 2011 album Neighborhoods, which was largely produced remotely across multiple studios in California, with ideas exchanged via email rather than in person. Band members later reflected that the process was disjointed, with limited collaboration and communication, resulting in creative friction and the resurfacing of old tensions and resentments.
Both the band and its label, Interscope Records, were reportedly disappointed with the performance of what was termed a comeback album. By October 2012, the band parted ways with Interscope, becoming independent artists for the first time since their early career. Guitarist Tom DeLonge was ecstatic about the move, posting the news to Twitter and likening it to "freedom". Just weeks before Dogs Eating Dogs entered production, bassist Mark Hoppus publicly suggested that new Blink-182 music was unlikely to materialize anytime soon. Speaking in October, he remarked that the band’s next full-length release "probably [wouldn't] happen for about a year," noting their demanding tour schedule.
Dogs Eating Dogs emerged during a period of ongoing internal tensions within the band. The idea to record new material arose during Blink-182's 20th Anniversary Tour in mid-2012, when drummer Travis Barker proposed that the members regroup in person. Around the same time, Tom DeLonge arranged a "band summit" in Utah intended to address lingering conflicts; according to DeLonge, the meeting, which was meant as a focused retreat, ended up being a brief and awkward session held in a casino dressing room. Hoppus and Barker had grown skeptical of DeLonge's motivations for being in the band, surmising that his increasing focus on tech ventures—especially his digital platform Modlife—suggested he saw Blink-182 more as a financial engine than a creative priority. Modlife, a subscription-based fan-access service that DeLonge championed as a forward-thinking alternative to traditional music distribution, became a major point of conflict. For DeLonge, the service was a way to artists to build revenue in a post-Napster age, rather than relying on third-parties. Hoppus and Barker resisted incorporating Blink-182 into Modlife, believing it blurred personal business with the band's identity and risked monetizing fan engagement in ways they found exploitative. In his memoir, Hoppus acknowledges that DeLonge may have been ahead of his time in building the service, and that their unwillingness to get onboard put DeLonge in an awkward position.
This disagreement triggered ongoing arguments within the band, culminating in October 2012 when DeLonge proposed that Blink release a holiday EP—an idea Hoppus and Barker initially welcomed until DeLonge revealed he intended the release to run through Modlife. Despite their reservations, they relented, and development began on what became Dogs Eating Dogs. The EP was conceived, recorded, mixed, and mastered in just over a month, compared to the two years it took to complete the previous album. All the songs were tracked at DeLonge's Neverpants Ranch studio in San Diego and Barker's Opra Music Studios in Los Angeles. Co-producer Chris Holmes became the conduit between the members; in a podcast interview, he notes that he engineered the sessions between both studios, frequently driving between and sleeping occasionally. Rolling Stone reported that the trio met for four days in Los Angeles in November 2012 to develop the songs. Free from label oversight, the band approached the project with a sense of autonomy. Barker found the sessions as a revitalizing return to collaborative recording after the fragmented process behind Neighborhoods. Years later, Hoppus agreed; in his memoir, he writes that "The energy was supportive and enthusiastic. We sounded like an angsty, pissed-off blink-182. This was what it was all about. These moments of connection and creativity."
DeLonge privately viewed the EP as a "test" to see if the band could truly repair their relationship. After the band split with DeLonge, Hoppus acknowledged that he flew from his London home to Los Angeles on short notice for to make the EP, framing it as the type of sacrifice he and Barker made to keep the band functioning, despite tension. DeLonge later argued that he led much of the studio work over a two-month period, with Hoppus and Barker participated for roughly "eleven days."