REVIEW: Bouncing Souls, Hopeless Romantic (Epitaph)
- Chris Hill
"Fun, loud party music" - the formative goal of the Bouncing Souls' members, and one they continue to succeed at, though the party appears to populated by slack-jawed Giovanni Ribisi clones, shouting "Oi!", slurping beer, and talking in one- and two-syllable words.
"Monday morning, I woke up late/I feel like shit and I can't see straight/One last drink was a bad idea/I'm on the throne with diarrhea" from "Monday Morning Ant Brigade" ranks as the stalest writing I've heard in a long time.
For a silver lining, there's guilty pleasure to be found in the vacuous lyrics and punk-lite music. "Ole'" and "Bullying the Jukebox" are aural spun sugar, fluffy and enjoyable, particularly the latter, with $20 monopolizing a jukebox, "because it's fun/You can't get near it, until we're done".
"Wish Me Well (You Can Go to Hell)" *could* have been a pleasure, with the male/female duet of Greg Attonito and Kara Weathington, but instead falls flat, descending into inane back- and-forth patter:
"So does this mean I really have to go?"
"Um, yeah. What part of, uh, 'Get out!', didn't you understand?"
"Wow, I mean, what happens if I want to call you or something next week?"
"Um, well, what happens is that I won't be there, because I don't like you anymore. You're stupid."
As humor, it's unfortunately ineffectual, like much of the disc. The handful of standouts (the two above, "The Whole Thing", "Night on Earth") display talent that should have been allowed to dominate the album, rather than serve as a hint of potential.
