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.

In addition, their reputation as an irreverent local live act at venues such as SOMA alerted the label, who was seeking to expand into different genres.

[7] Otis Barthoulameu, guitarist of local Cargo Music-signed act Fluf, saw potential in the young band and pushed them from the beginning.

[5] His son, Brahm Goodis, thought Blink and their style of Southern California punk fit the bill and encouraged his father to listen to a tape.

[8] DeLonge has said that Goodis did not favor the band, and invented the Grilled Cheese imprint of Cargo in order to keep them away from the main label.

[7][11] Despite the fact that the band were now in possession of a contract with the biggest indie label in San Diego, Cargo were still not in a position to offer more than a few days' worth of finances to record the trio's first efforts for their new home.

[14] According to Jeff Forrest, the band eventually decamped to more familiar surroundings of Doubletime Studios in Santee, California, where they recorded Buddha.

[14] Forrest suggested a line ("In my town you can't drive naked") for "Wasting Time" while Hoppus was recording his vocals for the track.

[17] DeLonge found the calendars offbeat and showed Hoppus, who likened a photo of a Siamese cat with intensely colored eyes to the famous character from the Lewis Carroll novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

"[19] The Los Angeles Times described the album's lyrical themes in a 1995 profile: "Most of blink-182's songs poke fun at their own youthful escapades, focusing on raging hormones, candy, masturbation, intestinal gas and other topics of interest to adolescents.

has been described as "[DeLonge] singing some self-searching lyrics over a subdued riff" that later "[slams] into mosh-melting territory ... with one of the most economical lead guitar counterpoints to the layered vocals so far.

Shooman writes that "the lyrics are unguarded and show a sensitive side of Blink that's quite often been somewhat obfuscated over the years by the popular perception of the band as goons goofing off.

"[15] "[Cheshire Cat's] off-kilter bounciness immediately caught the ear of kids who were already starting to wander from the Epitaph/Fat Wreck flock.

Cheshire Cat isn’t radically different from your typical Fat release from 1994, but there was a refreshing sloppiness and wide-eyed exuberance to it that augured lucrative things to come."

Retrospective reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars and wrote that "the group is rather scattershot here, hitting the target as often as they miss it," noting that the release is better suited to more involved fans.

[24] Rolling Stone would rate the record at two and a half stars in 2001, describing it as "slapped together lilting melodies and racing beats in an attempt to connect emo and skate punk, a sort of pop hardcore.

"[25] At Fuse, it was list as one of the "strongest" pop-punk debut albums by Marie Sheyman, who added "they made the punk rock they loved even catchier".

[26] Cheshire Cat was a strong seller for an independent band, despite the fact that popularity grew in the form of unauthorized CD copies across the country.

The husband-and-wife team of Rick and Jean Bonde, who owned and operated the company, began arranging shows for the band and minitours that gave Blink their first promotion outside of San Diego.

[29] Mike Halloran, disc jockey at XETRA-FM (branded on-air as 91X), made "M+M's" a regular part of his radio show playlist, which Hoppus cites as the first person to play the band.

[31][32] The band also received their first profile in the Los Angeles Times in December 1995, which praised the album but questioned their authenticity and "punk" label.

"[20] The band expanded their fan-base outside of San Diego by embarking on their first national tour shortly after the release of Cheshire Cat.

[33] Alongside 7 Seconds and Unwritten Law, the band travelled in a small convoy of cars, being too young and broke to afford a van.

Unwritten Law loaned the band their van, named "The Cock", for their first out-of-town gig in Reno, Nevada, and it broke before they were able to make it back.

The trip was not without its incidents: DeLonge was arrested for underage drinking on Halloween 1995 in Jacksonville, Florida, and on another occasion, a small riot broke out between bouncers using excessive force and fans.

[33][35] The trio desperately wanted to continue on the second leg of the tour in Australia but lacked the funds; the members of Pennywise helped out and bought the band's plane tickets.

[37] It was the site of an infamous prank fight between the members of the band and Pennywise that ended with local police being called and hotel security banning them.