With the band out on tour, likely playing a handful of songs off it, now seems a good time to tell you all about Bowling For Soup’s latest little collection of pop-punk ditties. Pop Drunk Snot Bread isn’t due out until April 22nd, but a few of the songs have already been released and I’m sure the crowd will be rocking to “Brad Pitt” and “Alexa Bliss” amongst others.
So, yeah, we’ve a recent song and one that was dropped over two years ago on here (as well as “Killin’ ‘Em With Kindness” and “Getting Old Sucks”). That still leaves a nice handful of material that fans haven’t heard yet – unless they play any of them at Blackpool tonight. I’ll be checking setlist.fm later.
Never ones to let a good ego trip go to waste, opener “Greatest Of All Time” mixes BFS’s sense of self-importance with a bunch of riffage that’s reminiscent of their most famous creation – the theme to Jimmy Neutron. OK, so not the most famous but it’s up there. Either way, it’s a fast paced rocker that even Zaphod Beeblebrox would be proud of. With a bouncy rhythm, “Hello Anxiety” is far more cheery than it should be. It reminds me of a catchy 60s rocker, and is obviously yet another song written from the band’s (likely Jaret’s) own life experiences. There are so many songs where BFS throw in bits about themselves that their albums are about as autobiographical as The Wildhearts’ output. Well, they do say to write what you know.
“Burn Out” is definitely one to make you want to boogie and has a great shoutalong chorus. If you thought having two tracks named after famous people was enough for an album, then sorry – but you have to make way for a third! “June Carter Cash (Lost and Found)” isn’t actually about Johnny Cash’s second wife, but she is referenced. If there’s an angry rocker on the album, this is it, though it’s definitely my least favourite. Like the sweetie in the bag that you eat first as it’s OK, but not as good as the rest.
The preppy “The Letter 3 (Sitcom Song)” moves us towards the end of the album and really gets the toes tapping – all of them. Lots of little references to classic sitcoms in there as well! The last track proper is the obligatory drinking song, “After All These Beers”. You do get a feeling it’s every bit as referential as the opening song, which makes it the perfect bookend pairing.
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There’s a little more to mention, though. I’ve skipped two tracks because I’d like to focus on them. On most BFS albums, there’s a song or two that really gets you. One you can relate to. “Your” song on the album. Well, Pop Drunk Snot Bread has two. “The Best We Can” is an acoustic-led heartfelt singalong which wouldn’t be out of place, with a couple of tweaks, on Jaret’s recent country album. If there’s a song that teaches you something very important about loving someone, it’s this one.
The second of the emotional pair is “Wouldn’t Change A Thing”, and you can likely tell from the title how it plays out. Again it’s a quieter song to start, but builds a bit in the old power ballad style. It’s humorous but still comes from the heart. If there’s one thing that impresses me with album after album, it’s BFS’s ability to pluck heartstrings, relate to the audience, be so open about themselves… and somehow make it funny.
We’re not done yet, though. Along with a “Public Service Announcement” and a “Pee Break” (both voiced by Morgan Freeman*), the keen-eyed may spot that the last song is almost eight minutes long. New territory for Bowling For Soup, who are hardly known for epic tracks. Well… minor spoiler… it’s the return of the hidden track! I won’t say any more other than… classic! Worth the couple of minutes of dead air to listen to.
A big album in of length, number of songs and quality. A big bundle of bounce and bubbles and bonkers and just what we bloody needed after the last couple of years.
*or someone the band got in for $50 who sounds like him, which in fairness is more likely
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