Review Summary: Bowling For Soup dishes up lunch on album number twelve...
2013 has been a big year for the Texan pop-punkers Bowling For Soup, as they creep ever closer to their 20th year anniversary as a band. This year saw them perform their last European tour and also release their twelfth studio album
Lunch.Drunk.Love. Unlike 2011’s effort
Fishing For Woo’s Bowling For Soup have asked for help this time around, by fan funding the album via pledgemusic. Despite not being overly successful in recent years, Bowling For Soup have remained consistent and loyal to their fan base; a factor which is heavily prevalent throughout the entirety of
Lunch.Drunk.Love.
The very first chorus of opening track ‘Critically Distained’ perfectly sums up what listeners can expect for the rest of
Lunch.Drunk.Love. Lead singer Jaret Reddick wastes no time in stating Bowling For Soup’s mission statement; “we’re not here to change the world, we’re here to laugh at others”. This line shows that Bowling For Soup are aware of the lack of critical appeal the material they produce has, but they simply don’t care. This light hearted romp initially lead by an acoustic guitar, quickly turns into the up tempo rocking affair Bowling For Soup are known for. Despite not seeing the band members pushing into any new territory, ‘Critically Distained’ features a number of witty lyrics and a funny reference to the Gin Blossoms which brought a smile to my face.
From here on in Bowling For Soup keep playing to their strengths and rarely stray from the formula they are renown for on the remaining thirteen tracks. ‘Since We Broke Up’, ‘Real’ and ‘Normal Chicks’ all feature hooky electric guitar riffs, combined with Reddick’s tongue in cheek lyrics and catchy vocals. ‘Normal Chicks’ is one of the albums highlights, which also gets an extra tick of approval for referencing Olivia Munn, whilst ‘And I Think You Like Me Too’ sees Bowling For Soup referencing their own song ‘1985’. The rest of the album follows a similar vein, although overall it feels slightly slower in tempo compared to previous releases and also features a few serious moments such as the cover of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians song ‘Circle’.
At the end of
Lunch.Drunk.Love. it becomes even clearer that Bowling For Soup solely made this album for their fans and don’t care about external opinions. Fans dug deep in their own pockets to help make this record happen and some also were even invited into the studio, to help out with the backing vocals. These backing vocals from fans can be heard on numerous tracks, but perhaps the best example is the pledgemusic exclusive ‘Award Show Taylor Swift.’ This track could have easily made the actually album, but instead was a bonus for pledges and features the hilarious line “I can’t find a parking space driving in my car, now I’m crying teardrops right on my guitar.”
It may have taken twenty years but Bowling For Soup have finally created consistent back to back solid albums. Just remember there is nothing new or ground-breaking to be found on
Lunch.Drunk.Love. but it sure is another fun hell of a ride.
