Bowling for Soup

A Hangover You Don't Deserve (2004)

fatpunkguy

I can't believe I am listening to this, much less writing a review for it. I like all things punk--including pop-punk--but at some point you have to draw the line between what is pop-punk and what is just pop. Bowling for Soup are just pop. There isn't really anything at all on this record that sounds punk to me. Usually, I dismiss this kind of stuff. All the post-Blink-182 pop bands really tend to annoy me. However, these guys have been doing basically the same thing since 1994 and they deserve some sort of credit for sticking to what they like and for all the hard work they have done to become successful.

A lot of people are already familiar with "1985," "Almost" and "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)" as they recieved quite a bit of airplay and attention from mainstream media. If you are familiar with these songs, then you pretty much know their gig: catchy pop songs with a sense of humor, in large part about girls and breakups. If you got a kick out of these songs you will probably enjoy this record to some extent, and if not you will absolutely hate it. You see, these are among the best songs on this album, along with "Hometown," "Trucker Hat" and "Last Call Casualty." Everything else feels like pure filler.

The thing is, I find myself skipping just about every track outside of the aforementioned. Not that they are bad songs--it's just that with this kind of music I find myself needing to enjoy the lyrics of the song in order for me to want to hear it again. It's just that, regardless of how long these guys have been around, this type of sound is just too simple and easily digestible to do much for me in the music department, so I really count on Jaret's sense of humor to keep me interested. Unfortunately, for the most part he doesn't.

The other problem with this album is that there are just too many songs. If they had dropped some of the filler it would have been much more tolerable, but with 17 songs it just feels drawn out and a bit boring. They never do anything that you haven't basically heard before and I just found it hard to play all the way through without getting impatient.

I get a kick out of these guys, but they are just pure instant gratification. This is the kind of record I put on when I am severly underslept and stressed out and just need something that doesn't make me think. So if you want something really sugary and sweet, check these guys out, but if you're looking for your new favorite band the search probably shouldn't start here.