Northeast Emo

Cheshire Cat is the debut studio album by American rock band Blink-182 (then known as simply Blink), released on February 17, 1995, by Cargo Music. The trio, composed of guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, formed in 1992 and recorded three demos that impressed the San Diego-based Cargo label. The album captures the band at a formative and early stage, blending power-chord riffs, brisk tempos, and melodic hooks with irreverent humor and juvenile antics. Recorded under tight time constraints mainly at Westbeach Recorders in Los Angeles, the trio laid down the sixteen tracks with minimal overdubs, emphasizing spontaneity and rawness. Influenced by punk stalwarts such as NOFX, the Vandals, and the Descendents, the band injected humor and personality into every track, from cheeky joke songs to more earnest explorations of relationships and self-doubt. It was produced by Otis Barthoulameu, of local act Fluf. The album was originally released with the band's name as Blink, until an Irish band of the same name threatened legal action, after which the band appended "-182" to the end of their name.