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The Bouncing Souls

Comet

Written by: PP on 24/06/2012 03:38:50

It's a little late to mature as a band after 22 years, dontcha think? Yet that's exactly what The Bouncing Souls, a staple for 90s style melodic punk rock, are doing on their ninth studio album "Comet". After stringing together an extremely successful run of 7 would-be classic punk records and one decent one ("Ghosts On Boardwalk"), "Comet" sees the band push the envelope and expand their scope outside of punk rock on several occasions into an alternative rock fueled, radio-friendly soundscape. Not that the Souls haven't always been super catchy, it's just that on "Comet" they exchange much of their natural energy in favour of slower, and frankly, somewhat boring songwriting.

Opener "Baptized" will fool you though with its hard-hitting tempo and a sound that feels like it's rooted in hardcore, almost like a throwback to their late 90s self-titled album. It's not a particularly interesting song, but at least it blasts the doors open and lets everyone know that the Souls are in the house and they mean business. Straight after, "Fast Times" takes us back to a quintessential Bouncing Souls track. It's a mid-tempo pop punker that pretty much defines how the band have sounded over the years, so no surprise here either. It's first on the third track "Static" where the band slows things down and practically sound like Alkaline Trio with a little bit darker mood overall. It's a little sub-par for the band given how it's not that catchy and sounds almost angry against the band's back catalogue.

"Coin Toss Girl" then is where the band ventures into something that could've been written by Bowling For Soup on their best days. It's super poppy and light, and sounds like radio rock / pop rock for the most part. Again, it's not a terrible song by any means, but is this really what we want from the Souls after 20+ years?

Of course the classic silly sing alongs are still there, too. "We Love Fun" literally has a chorus that says "we loooove fun, we're going out and having some, we looooove fun, because being sad is really dumb". It's completely retarded, but just like "Lean On Sheena", it'll be the sing along track at their live shows and one that'll lighten up the mood at any festival it's played at.

Those are the three track types that the band revolves across "Comet". The slightly boring alternative rock tracks, some harder tracks that don't stick to the mind of the listener easier, and a few classic tracks that'll infiltrate their set list for sure. So I can't help but be a little disappointed with the band. They've always been consistent in their genre, but on "Comet" they are showing the signs of an aging band that's running out of ideas. In a nutshell, it's just a poor album when compared to their back catalogue.

Download: We Love Fun, Fast Times, Coin Toss Girl
For the fans of: Face To Face, Goldfinger, All, The Loved Ones
Listen: Facebook

Release date 12.06.2012
Rise Records / Chunksaah