Review Summary: A return to form for Bowling For Soup after the disappointing 'Sorry For Partyin'
Bowling For Soup are back yet again to present the world with their 11th album and it’s one of their best yet! ‘Fishin’ for Woos’ sees the Texan pop-rockers continue to deliver top notch albums showcasing their signature sound.
To be honest, Bowling For Soups last effort ‘Sorry for Partyin’ sounded tired in parts and I didn’t have high hopes for this release. However, as tracks off this record started to make their onto the internet early, I listened and loved them. The new album is chock full of everything fans love about the group including party anthems and hilarious lyrics. Bowling For Soup have also taken a more serious tone on a number of tracks on this album; which emphasize that this is also their most mature album to date. Tracks like ‘What About Us’, ‘Turbulence’ and ‘Guard My Heart’ all show how this band has developed over the years to include a more serious touch to some of their music. ‘Turbulence’ is a prime example of ‘Fishin’ for Woos’ with its acoustic guitar, sincere vocal approach and background strings. This track comes off as a very heartfelt attempt to connect with listeners and features the brilliant chorus: ‘ And We’re all just passengers tonight, And We’re all just travelling through our lives, We will reach our destination so just hang on for the ride, say a prayer and close your eyes. It’s just a little turbulence.’
Whilst Bowling For Soup have incorporated some serious songs into the mix this time around, they still haven’t forgot how to please long time fans of the band. Bowling For Soup are renowned for their hilarious lyrics, catchy choruses, driving guitar rhythms, upbeat musicianship and overall ability to make the listener feel extremely happy. Jaret Reddicks gift of writing consistently catchy and comical lyrics is not something to be scoffed at. Eleven albums in and their song writing has never been stronger. Songs like ‘Let’s Pretend We’re Not In Love’, ‘Here’s Your Freakin’ Song’ and ‘I’ve Never Done Anything Like This’ are some career best songs, which is a very good sign for a genre that tends to get outdated and overly repeated. The track ‘I’ve Never Done Anything Like This’, in my opinion, is one of Bowling For Soups best songs to date. It features everything loved about the band, a great dynamic with female vocalist Kay Hanley, and even a reference to the rock band Tonic!
Bowling For Soup sound completely refreshed and have written some truly rocking songs which harp back to their ‘Drunk Enough to Dance’ sound. The decision to include more mature songs on this album helps to keep the band sounding new and re-energized. They have even written a song named ‘S S S-Saturday’ that hasn’t given a day of the week a bad name like Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ did. After many peers in this genre fail to consistently produce quality releases, Bowling For Soup have bucked the trend and manufactured the possible ‘best pop-punk album’ of 2011!
