No matter how old you are, it’s hard not to know and respect the Bouncing Souls if you call yourself a fan of punk. Greg Attonito’s vocals are instantly recognisable, and the band’s sound can be found threaded through so much of the current breed of punk bands from the US and otherwise. As they mark their 25th anniversary as a band, The Souls have returned with ‘Comet’ on Rise Records in association with their own Chunksaah Records.
From the Hot Water Music twinges of opener ‘Baptized’ to the early 00’s punk-ska verses of ‘Fast Times’ and Alkaline Trio darkness of ‘Static’, The Bouncing Souls open the album showing intent to try new things. For those three tracks at least, they manage to balance it well, but the lyrics of the punk and roll ‘Coin Toss Girl’ push it a little too far into cringe-worthiness and spoil a fine start to the album.
The title track brings things back on track with a classic (if a little slowed down) Bouncing Souls feel, but ‘We Love Fun’ (despite obviously being tongue in cheek) makes little sense as an inclusion. It seems a little lazy and isn’t quite fast or bouncy enough to carry lyrics like “we love fun because being said is really dumb”.
The speedy skate-punk of ‘Infidel’ and ‘DFA’ are up next, delivering a brace of tunes that’ll go down well live, and another Trio-esque moment in ‘In Sleep’ provides an album highlight in the closing stages. ‘Ship In A Bottle’ brings things to a close with a great acoustic influenced punk tunes, and by the time ‘Comet’ does come to a close, it’s definitely one that’s asking for another spin.
Forgiving a couple of moments that The Bouncing Souls may do well to leave well out of their live set, ‘Comet’ is a fine effort from a band that’s still got plenty to offer the punk scene. It’s not destined to be a world changing record or one that will draw in legions of new fans, but it’s certainly one that Souls fans can be happy with, and adds some blinders to their live arsenal for the next few years.
TOM AYLOTT