With an official launch date of tomorrow, many people already have Drunk Dynasty as Bowling For Soup opted to release it as a digital surprise as they commenced their recent run of dates with Steel Panther. Self-recorded and produced, this is the band getting back to their punk rock roots, financing the entire thing via a Pledge campaign.
If you know BFS, then you know what to expect. Cracking riffs, off-colour humour, bounce-a-bility, songs about women that screwed them over, beer… there are no surprises here! The thing is, they just do it so well. Bowling For Soup are the band that you bang on when you want to get the party rocking.
After several (dozen) listens, the tracks that have caught my ear are “Shit To Do”, “She Don’t Think That It’s Ever Gonna Work Out”, “Don’t Be A Dick”, “Stop Doing That”, and a cracking faithful cover of The Gin Blossoms’ “Hey Jealousy”. Lead single “Hey Diane” isn’t bad at all, but I just prefer some of the other tracks.
“Shit To Do” is a song destined to be part of a live set as it has possibly the most obvious singalong chorus the band have done in years. This is the kind of track designed for splitting the audience into two halves and getting them to compete against one another. “Don’t Be A Dick” is a belter of an angry outpouring and I’d hate to be the person it’s aimed at.
As with most of their recent albums, there are a few tracks that grab you from the get-go, a handful that are slower burners and – for me – one or two that just don’t meet the high standards. Thing is, in a month I’ll love them all. Always happens.
I’m already looking forward to the band coming back for a headline run as I couldn’t make any of the recent arena shows. On the strength of Drunk Dynasty the band have definitely proved that they’re just fine and dandy without a label behind them.
You can purchase the [amazon text=digital version&asin=B01M69ZEMO] from Amazon now, or pre-order [amazon text=the CD&asin=B01IPWXDDK]. Either link will help support this site.
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