I’ve been closely watching the +44 (Plus 44) project for a while now and have been anxiously waiting to get hold of their debut album, When Your Heart Stops Beating.

+44 reunites two former Blink-182 members Mark Hoppus (bass, vocals and songwriter) and Travis Barker (drums and keyboard), with The Transplants’ Craig Fairbaugh (rhythm guitar) and The Nervous Return’sShane Gallagher (lead guitar).

When Your Heart Stops Beating was everything I expected, yet, I was still surprised. When was the last time you heard an album that was as good as, if not better than, you expected, the first time you heard it? The album is packed with fun, melodic tracks, and if this was released 5 years earlier, it may have even produced a couple of number one singles.