Wasting Time – “Ripped Blue Jeans”
(Toronto, Ontario — Released December 12, 2025 via People of Punk Rock Records)
Melodic Punk / Punk Rock
With “Ripped Blue Jeans,” Toronto’s Wasting Time return exactly where they belong: somewhere between memory and motion, melody and sweat. This new single doesn’t just nod to the late ’90s, it inhabits it — channeling the spirit of a time when punk rock felt personal, physical, and just reckless enough to believe it could carry you somewhere better.
From the first notes, the song hits like a familiar rush. Anthemic hooks, open-hearted vocals, and that unmistakable sense of urgency that defined an era when discovery meant MTV’s 120 Minutes, burned CDs, and stumbling into bands by accident. “Ripped Blue Jeans” captures the texture of those nights: cracked sidewalks, sticker-covered guitars, community halls thick with sweat and stale beer, and long summers where freedom felt possible simply because you were young enough to imagine it.
Formed in 2017, Wasting Time are not newcomers chasing nostalgia — they’re lifers. With five EPs, three full-length albums, and a steady run of singles behind them, the band have built a catalog grounded in sincerity and melody. Their sound carries the DNA of Alkaline Trio, No Use For A Name, MxPx, Blink-182, and Green Day, but never slips into imitation. Instead, they focus on what mattered most: honest songwriting, big choruses, and songs that feel like they mean something because they do.
Their recent album Hurry Up and Wait solidified their reputation as one of Canada’s most dependable melodic punk bands, and “Ripped Blue Jeans” pushes that legacy forward. Mixed and mastered by Matt Gauthier at Arc Studios, the track feels tight but alive — polished enough to hit hard, raw enough to feel human. It also serves as the first glimpse of their upcoming full-length, Are You Out Of Your God Damn Mind?, due in the new year.
There’s a warmth to this song that goes beyond sound. It hums with a collective memory: baggy Dickies, chain wallets, flannel shirts tied at the waist, lyrics scribbled in school binders, and Dookie spinning endlessly in cheap CD players. But this isn’t nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Wasting Time aren’t trying to rewind the clock — they’re reminding us why those songs mattered in the first place.
That conviction comes from experience. The band have earned their stripes through relentless touring across Canada, Japan, and Korea, turning long drives and tight sets into shared stories. They’ve brought their melodic edge to festivals like Pouzza Fest, Canadian Music Week, and Rock La Cauze, and shared stages with genre staples including Smoking Popes, Mad Caddies, Unwritten Law, and Econoline Crush. Each show, each city, each chorus sung back at them adds to the sense that this band belongs wherever punk still lives.
“Ripped Blue Jeans” feels like a snapshot frozen in time — not as escape, but as connection. A reminder that punk once traveled hand to hand, was played too loud in borrowed basements, and meant everything because it belonged to everyone. Wasting Time don’t chase the past. They carry it forward, one chorus at a time — loud, melodic, and unapologetically alive.
© Thusblog
