The Bouncing Souls
“Crucial Moments”
Rise Records
Released : March 15, 2019
Punk Rock titans, The Bouncing Souls, have returned with a brand spanking new set of songs; and we couldn’t be more happy about it. These six new tracks come as part of the band’s thirtieth anniversary celebration, a statement that left me in shock. Has it really been three decades since the Souls first appeared? As the old saying goes; time fucking flies. Thirty years!
Crucial Moments begins with the title track of the same name, and instantly sets the tone for what the rest of this album is to be. From the get go, the Bouncing Souls offer up some of the most happy-go-lucky punk rock I’ve heard in a hot minute. Instantly, I wanted to sing along without yet knowing any of the lyrics that go with it.
With a few more listens, however, I was belting out the words much to my neighbors chagrin. This is the sort of thing we’ve all come to expect from the Souls – good times. Aptly named, these really were the crucial moments where the record took control and kept my attention squarely locked in.
See also : No Fun At All “Grit” Review”
The second track, 1989, picks on the pace somewhat and by this point, the listener is fully emerged and sold. At just over a minute and a half, it is also the shortest track of the bunch, and echoes back to the bands humble beginnings. Quick and to the point, rapidly throwing us a mosher before seeping back into a sing-a-long with Favorite Everything. Again, I find myself singing along and frantically enjoying these punk rock anthems to their fullest. The mark of any art form is to get some sort of reaction from its audience; and the Souls surely have done that here, with Crucial Moments.
Here’s To Us offers some high spirited punk rock along the lines of Crucial Moments – and Favorite Everything. The formula is the same. Solid riffs and sharp hooks, choruses that suck the listener in. Energy that would make Red Bull jealous. And isn’t that what you want from a band of this caliber? Sure it is! 4th Avenue Sunrise stomps back in with a heavier and quick delivery, not unlike 1989. You’ll get a taste of everything era of the band on this release, which I don’t presume was accidental.
The final track, Home, finds the lads treading a little into pop punk country. It’s a dancy little number with an upbeat tempo and the usual catchy chorus and hooks. A little different from the rest of the record but smooth and good all the same. It caps off a quick-hitting album that really ends way sooner than one might like. Hopefully it’ll be a stop gap or a bridge to a new full-length album in the not too distant future. Until then, Crucial Moments is more than able to quench the thirst.
To coincide with the release of the EP, and to further celebrate the milestone, a book with the same title is also set to be released, depicting the band’s career to date. Both can be secured via the Rise Records website.
Congratulations on your dirty thirty, guys! Here’s to many more!
For Fans Of : Swinging Utters , Against Me, Hot Water Music
Tracklisting :
01. Crucial Moments
02. 1989
03. Favorite Everything
04. Here’s To Us
05. 4th Avenue Sunrise
06. Home
