Bouncing Souls (The) - 20th Anniversary Series: Volume One

Artist: The Bouncing Souls

Album: 20th Anniversary Series: Volume One

Label: Chunksaah Records

Back in January I had often contemplated how I was going to review The Bouncing Soul's 20th Anniversary Series.  Unlike in conventional releases, The Bouncing Souls opted to celebrate their 20th year as a band by independently releasing a new single for each month of 2009.  That makes reviewing the twelve songs rather problematic, since a full review cannot really take place until December, and a monthly review of each song would be overkill.  Thankfully, the band has opted to release their singles physically in a quarterly series of 7" vinyls.  Each album contains four tracks, including an exclusive bonus track.  So for the sake of simplicity, I'll start by reviewing quarter one's 20th Anniversary Series: Volume One.

I have to admit, when I found out that the Souls were bringing back producer Ted Hut, the mastermind responsible for watering down the Souls on 2006's The Gold Record, I was a little skeptical.  While many songs were more than listenable, others like "Lean on Sheena" tried making the Souls into something they weren't.  In other words, their larger than life east coast hardcore sound had been replaced with cookie cutter pop overtones.  Thankfully Hut's return hasn't meant the return of The Gold Record.  Rather, Volume One acts as if The Gold Record never existed.  The opening track, "Gasoline," feels like a throwback to How I Spent My Summer Vacation.  Thanks to lead vocalist Greg Attonito's commanding presence, "Gasoline" has a particularly Anthemic feel that any long time Souls fan will welcome.  

For the next track, "Airport Security," the band takes a step back and calms things down with a slower tempo, and surprisingly, a love song.  Greg writes in regard to the subject matter: "Its a love song from me to my wife with a slice of a political statement/comic relief...but hopefully when the songs starts you forget about me, my wife, politics, comedy and yourself.  If you do...it's a good love song."  Does the song overcome this risk?  The simple answer is yes.  While it edges on the quieter side of the Souls' sound, it provides some nice recovery time countering "Gasoline's" in-you-face aggression.

The third, and final monthly song, "We All Sing Along," returns to the high energy, anthemic feel that "Gasoline" opened with.  The song unquestionably contains one of the Souls most explosive, sing along choruses since Anchors Away's "Sing Along Forever."  The entire track is one big energetic escalation that builds, and builds on, momentum from start to finish.  In fact, it's the perfect track for the disc to end on, making the reserved acoustic set that concludes Volume One in the bonus track, "A Life Less Ordinary," a satisfying fade out.

Volume One's four tracks are great throwbacks to The Bouncing Souls' glory days.  The choruses are anthemic, the highs are high, and the lows and sincere and passionate.  While the tracks were released independently, the first three (and the bonus track) fit together for a coherent and complete experience.  If Volume One is any indication, the 2oth Anniversary Series is going to make 2009 feel like a great year from start to finish.