The Bouncing Souls - The Gold Record

The Bouncing Souls
The Gold Record
Epitaph Records
Grade: A-/A

Far and away this is the best Bouncing Souls’ record in a long time. I’m talking in the realm of stellar, classic Bouncing Souls’ material – like “Neurotic” and “I Like Your Mom” from The Good, The Bad, & The Argyle; “Quick Check Girl,” “Lamar Vannoy,” and “The Freaks, Nerds, & Romantics” on Maniacal Laughter; “Say Anything” and “Kate Is Great” from their self-titled Epitaph debut; “Hopeless Romantic,” “Kid,” “Wish Me Well (You Can Go to Hell)” from Hopeless Romantic. The Bouncing Souls’ past two records, How I Spent My Summer Vacation and Anchors Aweigh, were solid albums but failed to provide a similar tingling feeling all over. Conceived in New Jersey and recorded in LA, the twelve songs on the Gold Record bring back early Bouncing Souls excitement coupled with a sense of melodic punk and contemporary fittings. With the same lineup for the past couple of records – Greg Attonito (vocals), Pete Steinkopf (guitar), Bryan Kienlen (bass), Michael McDermott (drums) – the band is as tight and smart as ever before. The Gold Record opens on aptly-enough “The Gold Song” which is just balls-out Bouncing Souls’ punk. A slow winder opens “So Jersey” as the songs progresses to thunderous guitars and gang vocals from the likes of Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan and Bad Religion/Epitaph headman Brett Gurewitz. “Sounds of the City” is equally hot shit, while “The Pizza Song” moniker sounds like one of the Souls classic one-minute throw-off tracks but actually contains acoustic guitars, accordions, and keyboards – in other words an organic feel for a punk band. Apt guitar muting opens “Sarah Saturday” on your way to an infectious chorus playing off the song’s title. Next up is Ray Davies’ “Better Things,” a mature sounding song but also seems perfectly suited for the Bouncing Souls. In other words, there is likely no way would you know it wasn’t written by the Souls. The rocker “The Messenger” greets you next – an odd amalgam of harmonica and guitar riffs that only partially does the job. Steinkopf’s brilliantly muting guitar again meets on the opening of strong “Lean on Sheena” and helps carry the song. Musically, “Letter From Iraq” is one of the weakest songs on the record, but the Souls right some wrongs on the hot, jumping “The New Thing.” Following the solid “Midnight Mile” comes the lengthy closer “For All the Unheard,” which travels as a quasi-ballad. While the Gold Record might not actually go gold, it is the Bouncing Souls best shot in years.