Review Summary: Despite the fact that the album is called “Fishing for Woos”, Bowling for Soup delivers probably their most mature album yet.
Ok, let’s look what we actually got here… A new album by Bowling for Soup, the punkers who never got out of high school and even in their 30s sings about getting loaded. Everyone who follows these guys probably thought it would sound the same considering they started writing in the beginning of 2010. This however, is not the case. Despite the fact that the album is called “Fishing for Woos”, Bowling for Soup delivers probably their most mature album yet.
Does that mean that the thing that made everyone love Bowling for Soup is gone, cheesy lyrics and happy sing-along tunes? No, we still got a bunch of those. The album sounds completely as their older records, looking back to 2004 when they gained their first critical acclaim. Then what’s changed? Normally, Bowling for Soup has one to two songs that actually are serious, on this album however, pretty much half of the songs are quite serious. Like the songs What About Us, Turbulence and Guard My Heart.
All of those song have a low tempo and have really well written lyrics, but it figures that Bowling for Soup could never make a complete serious record, it would be like Britney Spears singing death metal… “Girls in America”, “Here’s Your Freakin’ Song” and the lead single “S-S-S-Saturday” are good examples of Bowling for Soup milking their trademark sound.
OK, so the album has some serious songs, this isn’t exactly shocking looking back at their previous album “Sorry for Partyin’” and it’s tracks “Me with No You” and “Goodbye Friend”. What makes this album mature compared to everything they have released is probably the lyrics. Although there are funny tracks on the album, none of them has a such a cheesy line as “Did you feed the fish? Where’d you lose your pants? Do you like my band? Wait, don’t answer that…” from the song “No Hablo Inglés”. I mean, there’s even a song on the album that sings about how good a night can be WITHOUT drinking? That’s a new one…
Just so that I have mentioned the whole band; when it comes to the pure song writing, it’s clearly who has control, as it’s their lead singer/guitarist/composer Jaret Reddick who is in complete control. There’s nothing outstanding from the instrumentals, nor vocals, only really solid songwriting.
Musically the album is full of funny and sad tunes. Making it a really cool mix compared to most of their previous works. There is as close to none musical connections to “Fishin’ for Whoos” and “Sorry for Partyin’” that pop influenced sound is far gone, so for those of you who really didn’t like their change will be pleased. Many people always hated the group because of the really cheesy lyrics, so maybe this is the time for those to check out the band as the lyrics are really more mature, but still funny and cheesy from time to time.
Basically, if you like a fun, still a bit serious record, or is just in complete love with the pop punk formula, “Fishing for Woos” is a really well pulled off album that you more than likely will enjoy! It has funny moments, a whole bunch of sing-along choruses, serious songs and the really cheesy lyrics are removed. Does Bowling for Soup fit this serious sound? It’s really up to every single listener, because musically nothing has changed, in my eyes the only difference is that they have evolved as songwriters, so YES Bowling for Soup fits this more serious approach.
PROS
- Catchy guitar riffs
- Strong songwriting
- Lyrics are more mature, but still funny
CONS
- Really absent bass
- Drumming really basic and not interesting
- A bit too short
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
“Turbulence”, “Let's Pretend We're Not In Love”, & “This Ain’t My Day”
