Something funny happens when a punk rock band encroaches on a decade of constant recording activity. That “something funny” usually entails a group who has completely run out of ideas and winds up content to churn out the same old shit as an excuse to drum up excitement for another boring-as-fuck-greatest-hits tour. Not to name names, but you know who you are. What’s even worse is fans who happily eat this garbage up, foaming at the mouth with the prospect of taking another trip down Nostalgia Boulevard. Proof of this phenomenon comes in the form of the recent blink-182 reunion, a band whose “good” material is commonly used as fodder for open mockery and derision. Hey, looks like names were named after all. Oops. New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls, however, are still keeping it real for anybody who still cares.
The Bouncing Souls have spent a lengthy career perfecting their pop-punk formula and last year celebrated their 20th anniversary as a group with a series of 7” EPs, collected here as Ghosts On The Boardwalk. And boy, has their music become formulaic, and I mean that in the best possible way: their most recent records are easily on par with The Queers’ and Screeching Weasel’s best ‘90s material. These songs are instantly recognizable and I swear I’ve heard a few of them before, but there is an unmatched excitement that comes from hearing a group, who should be well past their prime, effortlessly knock off a dozen songs that don’t sound forced or condescending of fans. The Bouncing Souls are a band so comfortable in the presence of each other and their audience that everything they do sounds naturally inspired.
Ghosts On The Boardwalk is, as previously alluded to, a collection of last year’s EPs rearranged to form a full-length LP and it’s a good’n. The opening one-two knockout of “Gasoline” and “Never Say Die / When You’re Young” respectively rail against selfish materialistic personalities too self-involved to confront the shallow person inside, and champion youthful naïveté as the most powerful weapon against the banality of the modern world. Meanwhile, “Boogie Woogie Downtown,” despite its sunny chorus and rhythm, details the misery of succumbing to the same tedious dullness faced when life gets put on hold. But what would a Bouncing Souls album be without a stupid song about something stupid, and “Badass” fits the bill perfectly. I still can’t figure out if it’s mocking or celebrating such long-cherished institutions as monster trucks, mom jokes, swearing, solos, and, of course, Motörhead. I like to think it’s the latter, because Motörhead and guitar solos will always be pretty badass.
Ghosts On The Boardwalk isn’t revelatory or even original in the least, but it’s likely to be the best pop-punk album you’ve heard in a while. The Bouncing Souls aren’t as downright silly and amateurish as they once were, but at least they’re not as self-importantly indulgent as some of their peers. This is, if there is such a thing, a thoroughly professional record: it’s The Bouncing Souls getting shit done the best way they know how, the way I like it. With Propagandhi going the progressive rock route and Dillinger Four presumably about to enter one of their famed “nineteen-years-between-studio-albums” hibernation periods, pop-punk aficionados have Ghosts On The Boardwalk to turn to. Also, The Bouncing Souls still serve as evidence that the East coast continues to rock harder and will be perpetually cooler than the West. Fuck you!
Track List:
1. Gasoline (4:03)
2. When You're Young (3:59)
3. I Think That The World... (3:02)
4. Ghosts On The Boardwalk (3:53)
5. Airport Security (3:52)
6. Badass (2:40)
7. Mental Bits (3:14)
8. Dubs Says True (3:31)
9. Boogie Woogie Downtown (3:27)
10. Big Eyes (3:39)
11. We All Sing Along (3:49)
12. Like The Sun (4:17)
