www.t75.org

Bowling For Soup - Sorry for Partyin'

Bowling For Soup, Sorry For Partyin

Review by Jack Foley

IndieLondon Rating: 3.5 out of 5

LISTENING to the tenth album from Bowling For Soup is almost akin to slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers… or rather, popping a copy of American Pie in the soundtrack and reverting back to the innocence of puberty.

Their particular brand of frat-rock belongs on the American campus scene. It’s one-note, loaded with sexual innuendo, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a juvenile sense of humour that’s a real guilty pleasure.

Comparisons with other American bands such as Blink 182 and Good Charlotte also abound.

But crucially, they also display a keen sense of melody and an infectious sing-along quality that endears them whole-heartedly to the listener.

Sorry For Partyin’ brings nothing new to the party. But it does what it does well, ticks all the right boxes and is a real blast of pop-rock energy that takes you back to your youth.

It’s probably epitomised by lead single My Wena, a joyful blast of punk-pop energy that’s filled with double entendres about Jaret Reddick’s girlfriend, Wena.

But there’s plenty more to enjoy in their tongue-in-cheek, pants-around-the-ankles revellry.

Album opener A Really Cool Dance Song takes a welcome pop at the dance scene, with Bowling For Soup ‘attempting’ to come over all modern and incorporate [unsuccessfully] a dance sound.

Lyrically, it’s a blast… even though there’s a hint of irony in the fact that while dance/mainstream music tends to be bland and generic – so, too, Bowling For Soup’s style hasn’t changed either [but at least it’s entertaining with it!].

Further highlights come in the form of I Don’t Wish You Were Dead Anymore, a cheeky break-up anthem that sees Reddick on the road to recovery, and the bro-mance ode that is BFFF – a song that recalls a best friend relationship that’s definitely not gay… but affectionate.

Bowling For Soup’s brand of humour is best displayed in lyrics such as “there’s nothing wrong with being gay” and “and sometimes we punch each other in the face, like when I hit on your mum and got to second base… I’m trying to say I love you in a heterosexual way”.

The keen sense of Beach Boys harmonising adds to the song’s appeal.

The party anthem Hooray For Beer is another good-time, feel-good record that’s loaded with embrace-worthy lyrics and a keen sense of irony, and America (Wake Up Army) is a sharp lament about the state of play in the US military that has pop-drenched echoes of Green Day’s American Idiot.

There’s even the obligatory slower based power ballad in the form of Me With No You, which shows they can do more mature and just plain melodic. It almost makes you wish there were a couple more in the same style.

I Gotchoo almost does… employing a vaguely laidback beat and acoustic strum… But that’s not the Bowling For Soup way and they quickly pick up the pace and hit you with more fun anthems.

Sorry For Partyin’ isn’t really an apology… it’s a statement of intent that they’re happy to stick to formula and deliver little pockets of good time pop-rock. As such, this tenth album marks a welcome return… and one that invites you to join in with its revellry. Take a load off…

Download picks: My Wena, I Don’t Wish You Were Dead Anymore, BFFF, Hooray For Beer, Me With No You, I Gotchoo

Track listing:

  1. Really Cool Dance Song, A
  2. No Hablo Ingles
  3. My Wena
  4. Only Young
  5. I Don’t Wish You Were Dead Anymore
  6. BFFF
  7. Me With No You
  8. Hooray For Beer
  9. America (Wake Up Amy)
  10. If Only
  11. I Gotchoo
  12. Love Goes Boom
  13. I Can’t Stand LA
  14. Belgium Polka [bonus track]
  15. I Just Wanna Be Loved [bonus track]
  16. Walk Of Shame [bonus track]
  17. Amateur Night [bonus track]
  18. I Gotchoo [other version/bonus track]

  Name:
  Email: [?]
  Comment on this article: