The Bouncing Souls – “Comet”
Album Reviews | Jul 24th, 2012
Record Label: Rise Records
Genre: Punk
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“Comet” is the 10th studio album from the Bouncing Souls and the first to be produced by Bill Stevenson of Descendents/ALL fame. Stevenson’s influence is noticeable in the more pop punk sound that the Bouncing Souls take on this album.
I’ve never really been disappointed by a Bouncing Souls album, but on “Comet” the departure of their harder punk/oi influenced sound in favor of a multitude pop punk ballads that border on soft rock comes as a shock. “Comet” has a very slow pace to it and, although there are the occasional “Souls sounding” track sprinkled in, I found myself passing over some of the four and five minute long songs that just seemed to drag on.
When the good tracks played, they were pretty damn good though. “We Love Fun” is a chord heavy sing-a-long that will definitely have the crowd bouncing (pun intended) at shows and “Infidel” is one of the fastest songs that I’ve heard from the Souls in a long time…think “East Side Mags” with better lyrics.
Although the Bouncing Souls have evolved and matured as a band, “Comet” feels like it is more of a poppier punk attempt at a rock album. It’s somewhat disappointing even though there are some standout tracks on it.
Bottom Line: A very radio-friendly Bouncing Souls album…which necessarily isn’t a bad thing.
Notable Tracks: Baptized, Coin Toss Girl, Infidel, We Love Fun
Overall Rating:
