2011 has been surprisingly abundant for Bouncing Souls fans. The year has so far seen a split with Hot Water Music, the live album Complete Control Recording Sessions and the humorous acoustic set/Record Store Day exclusive, Live at Generation Records, from the punk pioneers. Now in July, fans finally get some brand new material in the form of the Natural Disaster EP, the first solo outing from frontman Greg Attonito. While the cover might bill him as “Gregory,” to Souls fans he’ll always be Greg, which is both a blessing and a curse for the EP. It lends Attonito’s new songs instant recognition, but they may disappoint long time fans. Natural Disaster is not tru punx.
Instead, Attonito aims for acoustic love songs, with some assistance from friends like Souls guitarist Pete Steinkopf and especially from wife Shanti Wintergate. The music is primarily acoustic, with the occasional ambient electronic flourish and horn arrangement, like on opener “How Many Songs.” At its best (“Volcano,” “Cincinnati Dream”), the EP functions as a solid chill out record for the summer. Other tunes, like “Eyes” and “Sexiest Girl,” are so straightforward in their loving intent that they fumble with the line between adorable and ridiculous. While I’m sure Wintergate was flattered when Attonito wrote “Sexiest Girl” for her, as a fan I feel uncomfortable hearing such a personal song that simply does not need to be released on a wide scale.
The EP is decent overall, and it’s certainly seasonally appropriate, but I’m not sure what kind of life it will have beyond the hardest of hardcore fans. You kind of need to be a superfan to really care about the songs’ context. Still, though, these whispers and acoustic strums add up to some pleasing tuneage.
[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick measuring contest, but it usually turns out that way. Here’s a recap from Record Store Day 2011, and be sure to e-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]
Records: Wild Flag’s “Glass Tambourine” b/w “Future Crimes” single (2011) on black, Death Cab for Cutie’s preview seven-inch for their upcoming album Codes and Keys (2011) on black, and The Bouncing Souls’ Complete Control Recording Sessions 10-inch (2011) on black.
Place of Purchase: My favorite record store, Repo Records in Philadelphia.
Thoughts: Record Store Day, the annual national event designed to get music fans away from their computers and actually into stores, was met with a metric shit-ton of rain here in Philadelphia. My fiancée and I packed two umbrellas and went out anyway, because we wanted vinyl exclusives, clam flammit. I reserved a lot of stuff through Repo, and I went in with the understanding that I probably wouldn’t be able to get everything due to limited pressings. But one release I absolutely hoped would be available was Wild Flag’s debut. I’m a huge Sleater-Kinney fan and this is the first recorded output from the new band featuring SK’s Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss. I’m going to write ‘n’ post a review later today, but the short answer is: Good, yay, surprising, and good.
Another seven-inch I desired was by Death Cab for Cutie. I played through their complete discography a few weeks ago and was amazed at how consistently they delivered great indie rock songs while gradually tweaking their sound. I couldn’t find a tracklisting for the seven-inch, but I figured it would be either a preview for Codes and Keys or a couple of B-sides. I was right, but not in a way that I wanted. The seven-inch contains a two-and-a-half-minute commercial for the new record on both sides. It’s very retro, right down to the label, and cute the first time through. Then I remembered that I paid $3.99 plus tax to get this release and got angry. SELL.
I was unable to get The Bouncing Souls’ Live at Generation Records RSD exclusive, but as far as I can tell, the limited release didn’t make it to Repo or a.k.a.. Kind of a bummer, but I still picked up the Souls’ other live release from that week, a joint release between SideOneDummy and Chunksaah called Complete Control. It’s a six-song live EP featuring that cover of The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments” that the band started playing during their 20th anniversary tour. And it’s got Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba on vox! Being yet another live release from the Souls, it’s kind of a diehard-fans-only sort of thing, but it’s still pretty cool.
RSD 2011 was a little disappointing for me. I couldn’t get Live at Generation Records, some of the stuff I did get sucked (I also picked up a Jimi Hendrix single of unreleased jams that adds nothing to his discography), and it rained all day. I’m afraid that the holiday is nearing a breaking point in terms of quality control, but it’s hard to tell without plunking down cash first. On the plus side, my friends and I got crepes afterwards. GIVE IT UP FOR CREPES.
[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick-measuring contest, but it kinda is. When I noticed I had already selected two splits to discuss, I tossed in a third. So… this is another themed entry. Woot. E-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]
Records: Bouncing Souls/Anti-Flag’s BYO Split Series Volume IV (2002) on purple marble,Burning Airlines/Braid’s split (1998) on black, Ted Leo/The Pharmacists/Zach Galifianakas’ split (2008) on clear yellow.
Place of Purchase: The Bouncing Flags album and the Burning Airlines/Braid split came from my favorite store in the world, Repo Records. The Leo/Galifianakis split was purchased Chunklet Records as party of their charity auction for relief in Haiti.
Thoughts: I’ve always had a fondness for the Souls/Flag split. I fell in love with How I Spent Your Summer Vacation in 2001, and spent the remainder of the year collecting the rest of their discography. I was up to speed by the time this 12-song split came out. My buddy Tim and I drove out to Sam Goody at the Plymouth Meeting Mall when the album came out. Since they only had one copy on CD, Tim ceded ownership to me, as I was the bigger Souls fan, which was awfully cool of him. Later on I doubled up with the vinyl version because, well, I loves me some Bouncing Souls. “Punks in Vegas” is one of their best songs ever, although their covers of Anti-Flag’s “That’s Youth,” Cock Sparrer’s “We’re Coming Back,” and Sticks and Stones’ “Less Than Free” are pretty good too. The split also turned me on to Anti-Flag – their criticisms of America sounded so angry and defiant, especially so soon after 9/11, although I thought adding the ef bomb to their take on the Souls’ “The Freaks, Nerds & Romantics” was unnecessary. Regardless, this is essential punk rock listening.
I have way less to say about the Burning Airlines/Braid split, since there are only two songs. I’d already been a Braid fan thanks to their Movie Music rarities collections and knew that their take on Burt Bacharach’s “Always Something There to Remind Me” was solid. I mean, I’m a super freak for the Naked Eyes version (there’s another Vinyl Vednesday story for you…), but this slow, slinking, dissonant interpretation is good too. While I love everything J. Robbins has done (Government Issue, Jawbox, Channels, producing Against Me!’s Searching For a Former Clarity), I’m still pretty ignorant of his work with Burning Airlines. Best I can say is it’s an oversight; I’m working on it. The group’s cover of Echo & the Bunnymen’s “Back of Love” sounds about par for Robbins’ songs. It’s definitely in that late-period Jawbox/Channels vein of polished post-hardcore that manages to be super intense without sacrificing fidelity.
The Ted Leo/Zach Galifianakis split takes two amazing artists that I don’t associate with each other and somehow brings them together. Leo and co. cover “Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreams Come Through” from The Best Show on WFMU’s Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster (of fuckin’ Mountain Goats fame) in their traditional Celtic punk style, and it’s so unbelievably peppy. Like, I was already in a good mood before I put it on today, and I’d say it augmented my pleasure centers by at least 15 percent. I went from “I like food/food tastes good” to “time to save the whales… with my bare hands!” levels of joy and inspiration. Galifianakis follows with a rather dirty electronic dance floor ode to clubbing, obviously filtered through his uncomfortable humor style. “Yeah! Suckin’ it off 2006 style!” Galifianakis declares early o. Later, he promises to “get on up in them guts,” which is the grossest/best way to talk about sex ever.
Also, seriously, how scary does Zach look in that photo above?
[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick-measuring contest, but it kinda is. This week’s entry breaks with tradition to discuss the four seven-inches in the Bouncing Souls 20th anniversary series. E-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]
Records: The Bouncing Souls’ 20th Anniversary Series: Volume One (2009) on black and red, Volume Two (2009) on blue, Volume Three (2009) on green with black and red swirls, and Volume Four (2009) on black and white.
Place of Purchase: Volume One and Four were ordered straight from Chunksaah, the band’s personal label. Volume Two was purchased at Shore Things from the Ocean City, N.J. boardwalk. I that place and wish it was a lot closer to Pa. Finally, Volume Three was purchased at a Souls anniversary show at the Trocadero.
Thoughts: Man oh man, I love those New Jersey mooks, the Bouncing Souls. How I Spent My Summer Vacation indoctrinated me into the world o’ punk rock, and my love for them grew greater with each full-length I picked up. This year they tried something different: digitally releasing one song a month, then collecting three of those songs on a seven-inch every third month, with an acoustic bonus track slapped onto the backend. Each of the records has their own personality, but I’d say I’m most partial to Volume Three.
Three opens with the haunting “Ghosts on the Boardwalk,” which is a catchy lil tune. The B-side is the best side of any of the seven-inches, though. First up is “Badass,” a joke song about things that are, well, badass, like kung-fu movies and your mom. “Uke Chek Girl” converts Maniacal Laughter’s “Quick Chek Girl” into a chill ukulele tune. The Souls’ tunes are great rabble rousers, but they translate surprisingly well to acoustic campfire tunes. Since I suck at guitar, maybe I can teach myself a bunch of Souls songs on ukulele?
Anyway, all four of the records are pretty good. Plus, their release schedule feels like a document of my own life in 2009. I can remember where I was at around each drop date. The Souls have defined my life for the last eight years, and they continue to do. I’m one of those “true believers” types. My only regret with this series is that I didn’t buy a second set of seven-inches for framing. Still, though, it’s cool to lay out the covers and see how they connect. Also, the vinyl comes in pretty colors. I like pretty colors.
This was a good year to be a Bouncing Souls fan. And when I say “year,” I really do mean 365 days – the Souls played some greatshows and served up new songs all year long. By now, you should know the drill – the band digitally released a song on the first of each month (or thereabouts) and a seven-inch every three months with an acoustic bonus track for their 20th anniversary series. Sometime next year, a CD collecting the original 12 songs called Ghosts on the Boardwalk will be released. As a fan, I’ve stayed excited for each new seven-inch year-round, so much so that I’m a little sad to see the project end. But hey, at least now I can put the four album covers together to form the Souls’ 20th anniversary logo.
Volume Four of the collection shouldn’t be too surprising to those who have been following the series closely. The songs are mellower than previous Souls releases like How I Spent My Summer Vacation or Maniacal Laughter. A sides “Like the Sun” and “Big Eyes” are kindred spirits – the former finds the narrator (let’s assume it’s frontman Greg Attonito) looking for love in an uncaring world, while the latter finds Attonito older, wiser and happier, imparting a message of hope to a girl stuck in the same seemingly cruel surroundings. These tunes don’t necessarily sound like a typical Souls song – not enough “whoas” – but lyrically, they pretty much sum up the band’s ethos. These guys have struggled with depression and so have their fans, and the two groups find solace in the punk rock middle.
Underground music – and let’s be honest, the Souls might be too big for that phrase save for their avoidance of MTV, radio and commercials – sometimes exhibits an exclusive coolness, a schoolyard superiority complex that takes a wee bit too much pride in its clique status. The Souls have never been that kind of a band, as these songs illustrate. The chorus to “Big Eyes” literally states what essentially every Souls has said to me: “Hey little girl don’t look so sad it’s not the end of the world / I’ve seen this film before, already know the ending / Some of the faces change but the plot it stays the same / So take my hand / Let’s walk away.” It’s going to be OK. Like a certain other Souls song says, “I built this cloud / I can break it / The world can’t change how I feel.”
The record’s flow is similar to series highlight Volume Three, in that the first side is relatively low key, while the flipside boasts one rocker coupled with an acoustic number. “Never Say Die/When You’re Young” rocks like “Badass,” although it’s not nearly as funny/awesome. It’s still a solid track, though, carrying the same positive message as the A side. An acoustic version of “Ghosts on the Boardwalk,” originally from Volume Three, closes out the vinyl. Its energy is about the same. The song translates pretty easily into an acoustic number, perhaps aided by the group’s decision to keep the eerie intro from the full band version.
With the closing measures of “Ghosts on the Boardwalk” concludes the Bouncing Souls’ 20th anniversary series, at least until Ghosts on the Boardwalk drops. It’s been fun, there were pretty colors (my copy of Volume Four is on a black/white swirl. Mail order rules), rock was had. Now to brainstorm for the 25th anniversary…
The Bouncing Souls finished their song-a-month project today with the digital release of "Never Say Die/When You're Young." The song, along with the previous two entries in the series, will be collected with a bonus track on a seven-inch come Dec. 15. That, in turn, will be last of fourvinylentries in the project. The 12 songs, without the vinyl bonus tracks, will be released on a CD entitled Ghosts on the Boardwalk sometime in January.
It's been a fun year for Souls fans. We got new songs every month, some swell anniversary shows, and a weird/funny variety show special. Which reminds me - when is that going to get a DVD release?
The year is almost over, and with it, the Bouncing Souls’ 20th anniversary bonanza. The band played a few birthday gigs, filmed a variety special, and is almost finished debuting a new digital download on the first of every month. 20th Anniversary Series: Volume Three collects three more of those downloads on vinyl (Mine’s on tour-only green with black and red splatter, suckaz) plus another bonus track. The series thus far has been strong, but Volume Three might be the best yet.
Volume One and Two followed a similar formula – two punk rock tunes on the first side, a mid-tempo and a mellow acoustic number on the flipside. Volume Three ditches that idea. “Ghosts on the Boardwalk” opens with some haunting feedback that saturates the whole song. Given that it’s a song about summer and the seven-inch is coming out in September, “Ghosts” takes on an appropriately wistful tone in the vein of Hopeless Romantic’s “Night on Earth.” Its companion on the A side, “Boogie Woogie Downtown,” is the numb twin to Volume One’s “Gasoline.” The song is similarly bitter at the world, but the music’s subdued style is a departure from the band’s raucous material. It’s a logical follow-up to “Ghosts on the Boardwalk,” but man is it a bummer.
“Badass” opens the B side and completely washes away every melancholic thought anyone ever had ever. A fist-pumper akin to a less synth-soaked version of Team America: World Police’s “America, Fuck Yeah,” the song lists things that are badass. This includes Bruce Lee, snakes, vocal solos, and The Pete’s mom. It’s a little out of place compared to the rest of the seven-inch, but it’s a really fun song, so shut up. As for bonus track “Uke Chek Girl,” it’s exactly what Souls fan should expect: Maniacal Laughter’s “Quick Chek Girl” performed on a ukele. But this isn’t exactly “Souls Go Hawaiian!”, although that would be a totally sweet movie. Rather, frontman Greg Attonito gives the song a somber makeover. It’s a chill way to end an already relatively placid record.
While three-quarters of its songs were released over the summer, Volume Three works better as an autumnal record. It’s a little nostalgic, both for company and kung-fu movies. But regardless of the season, it’s still good.
Aug. 22 and 23 brought Philadelphia two shows celebrating punk pioneers the Bouncing Souls’ 20th anniversary. While they’ve always been a New Jersey band through and through, the band has plenty of history in nearby Philly, not to mention the Trocadero, which hosted the concerts. Saturday saw support from 7 Seconds and None More Black, while Sunday, which I attended, brought in Lifetime and former Avail frontman Tim Barry. From all accounts, it didn’t matter which you hit up; you were still in for a good time.
Both shows sold out, and rightly so. As I’ve written here before, the Souls are one of the most important punk bands of everything everywhere ever (Ever!). They’ve been making people dance since I was three years old. They’ve hit a point in their careers where it doesn’t even matter what they play, only that they do play. Surrounded by friends and fans (members of Paint It Black, Loved Ones, and who knows who else were in attendance), Philly made the perfect setting for the group’s birthday bash Sunday night.
Unfortunately, things didn’t start off too smoothly. The show began with a screening of the Bouncing Souls 20th Anniversary Special, a retro variety program featuring performance footage, ventriloquism and the Boogietron 5000. It was chock full of the band’s weird sense of humor, though watching the film proved a little difficult given all the noise from the balcony bar. The same issue applied to acoustic opener Tim Barry. He didn’t seem to care, though, as he soon unplugged his guitar and leapt into the crowd for a rendition of “Idle Idlyst” among his faithful. The crowd dug performances of “Ronnie Song” and “Dog Bumped.” He also took the time to berate his home of Richmond, Va.’s for building portions of I-95 over slave cemeteries, which was informatively infuriating.
After Barry, sound problems were nonexistent. Rather, Lifetime brought a new challenge: guitar straps. See, guitarist Dr. Dan Yemin has a thing for rocking out, and his strap came undone quite a few times during the band’s succulent set. They started with “Daneurysm” and closed with “Ostrichsized,” filling the in-between with a good mix of songs from Hello Bastards, Jersey’s Best Dancers, and Lifetime. Oh, and broken straps. Frontman Ari Katz teased Yemin a bit about his technical difficulties, but when a fan threw in some extra grief about buying a strap lock, Yeems let out some of his trademark sarcastic bile:
“Strap locks are for Iron Maiden,” he said. “…Punks use duct tape.” And true to his word, he did. It’s not like the strap-capades negatively affected Lifetime’s set that much anyway. Songs like “The Boy’s No Good,” “Rodeo Clown,” “Northbound Breakdown,” and “Airport Monday Morning” were still awesome.
But as good as Lifetime was, there was an even better group waiting to cap off the night. Emerging to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “Born to Run,” the Bouncing Souls plugged in and proceeded to deliver the perfect 90 minute set. Granted, I say that as a super fan. Dudes were the first punk band I really fell in love with, the source of my high school year book quote (“I’m on the outside looking in / That’s where my story beings / Took the pain of growing up / And I will walk on through / This is how I’m showing up / I feel great / How ’bout you.” Thanks of asking!!), and just generally a source of joy and inspiration in a genre that tends to eat its own. But that’s a tangent. I’m sorry. Let it go and focus on how good Sunday’s set list was, OK?
If you were a fan of the Souls’ older material, this would’ve been a good show for you. 1994’s The Good, The Bad, and The Argyle got a lot of love via “I Like Your Mom,” “These are the Quotes from Our Favorite ’80s Movies” (complete with an Outsiders “We’ll do it for Johnny!” reference from a fan), “Joe Lies (When He Cries),” and “Neurotic.” Yeah, that happened. 1996’s Maniacal Laughter made some appearances in the set, with “The Freaks, Nerds, & Romantics,” “The BMX Song,” “Quick Check Girl,” “Here We Go,” and a jammed out “Moon Over Asbury.” “Moon” segued nicely into a cover of the Misfits' "Hybrid Moments." The Bouncing Souls weighed in with “Cracked,” “East Coast Fuck You!”, “Say Anything,” and a particularly awesome “Kate is Great.” Sadly, my cries for “Shark Attack” went unanswered.
Some newer material did show up as well. “Lean on Sheena” was the lone track from The Gold Record, while Hopeless Romantic’s title track did the same. Anchors Aweigh scored “Sing Along Forever,” the title track, and a fan-requested “Apartment 5F.” How I Spent My Summer Vacation’s “Private Radio,” “That Song,” and “The Something Special” rocked the set list, along with set opener “True Believers” and encore-ender “Gone.” Oddly enough, outside of “I Think That the World,” nothing from the band’s 20th anniversary single series showed up.
That’s a lot of songs – 25 by my count, and I’m working from memory. But in the moment, it barely felt like a half-hour, let alone 90 minutes or so. Which is perhaps the biggest compliment I could give the Souls – dudes played a lengthy set that was so much fun, I completely lost track of time. I was too busy watching frontman Greg Attonito shake around in his suit while bassist Brian Keilen and guitarist Pete Steinkopf tore at their instruments. Drummer Michael McDermott seemed to lead the charge in tweaking the band’s back catalog, switching up fills and extending songs, most memorably during “Moon Over Asbury.” The result was a fine blend of something old and something new which eradicated all sense of time (and temperature. It was pretty dang humid in the Troc).
Despite logging 20 years in punk rock, the Bouncing Souls show felt more like the beginning of a new chapter than the conclusion of an old one. The band sold advance copies of 20th Anniversary Series Volume Three, their newest seven-inch [SPOILER ALERT: IT’S GOOD]. They hinted at holiday shows and plans to learn new covers. Representatives from the Syrentha Savio Endowment passed out literature about cancer prevention and sold very cool “fuck cancer” shirts. So while it’s incredible to look back on those 20 years of music – yes, even the Greenball Crew EP – I can’t help but look forward to what comes next.
The year-long celebration of all things Bouncing Souls continues with 20th Anniversary Series: Volume Two. Collected are three more songs from the band’s ongoing song-a-month digital download project, as well a bonus track, an acoustic demo of Volume One’s “Gasoline.” Generally speaking, it’s the same set-up as Volume One: Two fist-pumping punk anthems on the A-side, with a mid-tempo game-changer followed by an acoustic number on the flipside. The diversity is in the details.
“Dub Says True” and “I Think That the World” are Gold Record-style winners. “Dub Says True” is a testament to friendship, but for it me it doubles as a song about my love of the Souls. It’s all there in the chorus – “You say we have been there for you / In all the tough times of your life / Remember you have been there too,” says Attonito before the whole band shouts, “We always will be true.” For the last eight years of my life, the Souls have filled my days with life-affirming joy. And no matter how emo I felt or how many Dashboard Confessional/Smiths/Bright Eyes smoothies I concocted, they pulled me back up.
Oh yeah, and “I Think That the World” is a cute little love song.
The B-side starts off happy with the easy/breezy/harmonica-laden “The Mental Bits.” It’s more laidback than some punkers might appreciate, but it’s still a fun song. Bonus cut “Gasoline,” in sharp contrast, is not so fun. It’s depressing, and having to move my record needle over the locked groove to get to it gets annoying after a while. To be honest, this demo feels a little like a copout, given that Volume One offered “A Life Less Ordinary,” an actual new track. That said, the demo brings the band’s lyrics into focus. Without a punk tempo to liven things up, Attonito’s nihilistic disdain for the world and himself fully comes through. It’s a major downer after all the peace, love, and harmony from the first three songs, but it’s also a reminder that the Souls know how to get dark.
“Gasoline” aside, Volume Two is a solid summer seven-inch, delivering songs about love, friendship, and good times. I’m not sure yet where it ranks in terms of the overall series. Volume One is a hair stronger, while Volume Three promises a ukulele version of “Quick Chek Girl,” which I’m pretty sure has to be awesome times a thousand, but Souls fans should be downright satisfied with the latest addition to the band’s discography.
New Jersey punk rock lifers The Bouncing Souls have always been nostalgic, among other things. The band’s catalog is filled with love songs to their friends (“Lamar Vannoy,” “Kate is Great”), their friendship (“Manthem”), even their favorite inanimate objects (“Streetlight Serenade (To No One)”). The group celebrated its 15th anniversary with the very excellent award-winning documentary Do You Remember?: 15 Years of The Bouncing Souls. The doc was a well-made testament to The Bouncing Souls, who have enjoyed a longer creative streak of great albums that exceeds those by The Clash, The Ramones, Rancid, Jawbreaker, and many more. To commemorate the band’s 20th anniversary this year, The Bouncing simultaneously embraced new and old audio technology: On the first of every month in 2009, the band will release a new mp3 for sale. Every third month, the band’s personal label, Chunksaah, will release a seven-inch collecting the three songs released online thus far, plus a bonus track. It’s both new-fangled yet very retro.
Well, it’s March, and the Souls have released the aptly titled 20th Anniversary Series: Volume One. This 33 1/3 beauty comes on colored wax (mine is black and maroon), and the cover forms part of a Souls anniversary logo created by bassist Bryan Kienlen and Arturo Vega. Now, I haven’t been keeping up with the band’s online releases (I also wait for my favorite TV shows to come out on DVD. Watching three seasons of How I Met Your Mother within like a week is awesome), so Volume One was a surprise for me. The first side, featuring January’s “Gasoline” and February’s “We All Sing Along,” is standard pogo-ready punk from one of the best Jersey bands of all dang time. “Gasoline” is a bitter missive against all of the paranoid, hateful news bites floating on television, radio, and the Internet. Drummer Michael McDermott gives the song a driving pulse, fighting off the darkness in vocalist Greg Attonito’s vocals. “We All Sing Along” is almost more positive by default. It’s another rocker, this time describing how music keeps a cast of characters from completely buckling under the tyranny of the sort of unforgiving world mentioned in “Gasoline.” These first two songs complement each other well; both in terms of sound (bithin’!) and perspective (shit’s fucked but we got a song!). While it doesn’t quite match the fury and hooks of, say, How I Spent My Summer Vacation or Maniacal Laughter, the A side is still a solid double shot of Bouncing Souls goodness.
The B-side, featuring March’s “Airport Security” and the bonus track “A Life Less Ordinary,” tweaks the Souls’ formula a bit. “Airport Security” is a pretty light, mid-tempo track. It has more in common with mid-’90s alt-rock than, say, Lifetime or Face to Face. It’s a decent track, but not terribly memorable. Also, the lyrics have a slightly rambling, directionless bent. “A Life Less Ordinary” is a little more interesting, with a haunting, acoustic tone previously hinted at on the seminal Anchors Aweigh record (and, apparently, the band’s recent live shows). Attonito has always been an iconic punk singer to me, articulate and powerful but with a much more relaxed delivery than most punk/hardcore vocalists. “A Life Less Ordinary” feels like a much more natural fit for him. It’s a good chill-out song after the record’s rock-centric cuts, and the guitar solo at the end is sweet.
Volume One is an all too brief listening experience – I want a new Souls full-length and I want it right now. And, compared to the band’s wealthy discography, it doesn’t top what they have done before. But it’s still The Bouncing Souls singing punk rock songs about struggling against a fucked up American current, and that gives me great comfort. I’m always gonna love these mooks. Happy birthday. Now please fast forward to June so I can get Volume Two.
