Bowling For Soup: Sorry For Partyin'
Bowling For Soup: Sorry For Partyin'
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Monday, 12, Oct 2009 02:58
Jive Records, out now.
In a nutshell...
Energetic, pumped-up, feelgood shameless punk rock.
What's it all about?
More of the same from the possibly 'old enough to know better' fun lovers, fans of the band will not be disappointed, and with 14 new tracks coming in at just under 50 minutes there's something on there for everyone. New directions are being explored by the likes of opening track A Really Cool Dance Song' and ending with a polka!
Who's it by?
Fou-piece Jaret, Chris, Erik and Gary have been around for more than a decade now. Although preceded by The Bitch Song, the single that really saw them break out into the mainstream was Girl All The Bad Guys Want with which Bowling For Soup made a stand against the rap-metal that was hogging the alternative charts of the time, to show that feel good punk rock could still hold it's own.
As an example...
"This song sounds like a dance song/'Cause dance songs are cool now."
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Bowling For Soup probably won't be picking up any mainstream awards this side of the Atlantic, but this doesn't mean they won't be filling up the dancefloors in your local alternative club night.
What the others say
"Though some may see this collection as an exercise in bad taste, there's no getting away from the Texas quartet's charm. Listening to this CD will not make you smarter, but it certainly may put a smile on your face." - The Canadian Press
"It's hard not to admire a band that wants to show as many different sides of themselves on one album, but when they had already cut the album down to 14 tracks from the 27 that were recorded, you almost wish that they had been a bit more brutal and ended after If Only for a really strong ten-track album." - Themusicfix.co.uk
So is it any good?
You'd be forgiven for initially placing Bowling For Soup in the 'oh great, more of the same' category, that is until you press play on Sorry for Partyin'. Opening track A Really Cool Dance Song pulls no punches in delivering a track that is rooted firmly in the band's pop punk style, but proves that they can deliver different musical styles with ease. BFS manage to perfectly exhibit their love for feelgood comedy while at the same time proving that they're also about the music. Fourth track Only Young offers a slightly different tone (starting with what sounds like a homage to Therapy?'s Screamager) and Me With No You is a perfect example of the band successfully offering more heart-wrenching pieces without sinking to the depressing depths Blink 182 managed on their final offerings.
Of course I wouldn't be fooling anybody by trying to convince you that the band had started to grow out of their occasional juvenile humour, first single My Wena (referring to a dog, obviously) being ample proof of this - which isn't a complaint, I wouldn't have them any other way.
It's not original, it doesn't match the grandiose orchestration offered by the likes of Muse and you may have heard it all before, but with the dark winter mornings looming this is the perfect pick-me-up.
8/10
Ben Brady