Bowling For Soup
To celebrate the band's 20th anniversary last year, Bowling For Soup crowd funded two greatest hits records, asking fans to select their favourite tracks to be re-recorded. The first instalment "Songs People Actually Liked Volume 1" covers the first decade, from the bands early days to their breakout record "Drunk Enough To Dance" in 2002. This was in part a response to their record company releasing an unauthorised "Best Of" in 2011. Reel Big Fish previously found themselves in a similar position, releasing "A Best Of Us For The Rest Of Us" after Jive Records produced the cruelly titled "Greatest Hit....and More".
The tracklisting here demonstrates that BFS' fans have good taste. All of the hits are present and correct ("Girls All The Bad Guys Want" is still a great pop song) but minor gems like "Pictures He Drew" and the ska tinged "2113" also make an appearance. Sensibly, the band have tightened up the older tunes without making wholesale changes. Not all of it has dated well. I'm much more reluctant to sing along to "The Bitch Song" than I would have been a decade ago. But on the whole, it's an enjoyable experience of rediscovery for me. It's always a joy to listen to one of BFS' many versions of "Belgium" which continues to stand up as a fine love song.
The record ends with the obligatory new track, 20 Years (That's A Lot of Beers), which amusingly name checks BFS' more successful pop-punk brethren."Green Day's been on Broadway, Chris puked up on that street, when Sum and Blink were funny and rock stars still ate meat". The band certainly haven't lost their sense of humour, nor their sense of fun. It might be a collection of "break up songs with power chords" but there's some quality tracks in the mix.
The idea for this blog started off as me briefly covering my listening of new releases on Spotify this week but has turned into a longer than expected piece on the new Bowling For Soup record. But I'd like to think that this gives a flavour for my general music taste i.e stuff that's highly unfashionable that was briefly in vogue when I was a child. I'm off to Koko on Tuesday for a Yellowcard/Less Than Jake double headliner show that fits firmly into that category.
The tracklisting here demonstrates that BFS' fans have good taste. All of the hits are present and correct ("Girls All The Bad Guys Want" is still a great pop song) but minor gems like "Pictures He Drew" and the ska tinged "2113" also make an appearance. Sensibly, the band have tightened up the older tunes without making wholesale changes. Not all of it has dated well. I'm much more reluctant to sing along to "The Bitch Song" than I would have been a decade ago. But on the whole, it's an enjoyable experience of rediscovery for me. It's always a joy to listen to one of BFS' many versions of "Belgium" which continues to stand up as a fine love song.
The record ends with the obligatory new track, 20 Years (That's A Lot of Beers), which amusingly name checks BFS' more successful pop-punk brethren."Green Day's been on Broadway, Chris puked up on that street, when Sum and Blink were funny and rock stars still ate meat". The band certainly haven't lost their sense of humour, nor their sense of fun. It might be a collection of "break up songs with power chords" but there's some quality tracks in the mix.
The idea for this blog started off as me briefly covering my listening of new releases on Spotify this week but has turned into a longer than expected piece on the new Bowling For Soup record. But I'd like to think that this gives a flavour for my general music taste i.e stuff that's highly unfashionable that was briefly in vogue when I was a child. I'm off to Koko on Tuesday for a Yellowcard/Less Than Jake double headliner show that fits firmly into that category.
Comments
Post a Comment