The Bouncing Souls – Anchors Aweigh – Review

The Bouncing Souls

Anchors Aweigh (Epitaph)
by Grady Gadbow

“Gimmy a reason to care and I’ll sing along forever,” goes the chorus of the third song. Shit man, that’s what I’m saying, ya know? It kinda pissed me off. Like, give you a reason to care? You’re the artist here, you worry about that ahead of time and come up with a quality piece of work that speaks for itself and we won’t have this awkward moment where neither of us knows what we’re doing here. Like talking too long to the boring bastard at the party who goes on about how boring parties are, I excuse myself and pursue action.

The only melodic strength here is in the call and response vocals and ubiquitous whoa-oh-ohs, and unless you’re The Misfits or Naked Raygun, that shit gets old faster then mayonnaise in the sun. A lot of the vocals are shouted over the second and fourth chords of the progression in an Avail/Hot Water Music kind of way, but without any real intricacy or apparent conviction. Maybe it’s just a futile effort to distance themselves from the likes of Blink 182.

Playing kinda fast and counting to four have always been important skills in punk rock. So has yelling “Hey!” and doing pick slides, but even perfected to a martial arts level, those skills alone do not make a record rock. That takes soul.
(2798 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026)