Welcome to Rock Music Critic! Check out reviews in the Flash menu above or the static links below. This latest version of the site now includes reviews with an embedded music player so you can listen to whole albums once for free courtesy of Lala.com. Lala doesn't always have an album, but when they do I will include the player. What's easier than listening to an album to decide whether you like it? Feel free to ignore my petty ramblings and just listen to the tunes. That's really the whole point anyway. Up the Irons!! ~ George
Bowling For Soup
The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Gods help me, but I love these guys. Yeah, they are part of the current breed of annoying punk-pop wanna-be's, but I just can't help loving anything BFS does. The songs feel somewhat contrived, yet there's enough truth in there that I can relate to many of the songs and laugh along with the band.
I know they've worked with Butch Walker in the past (and his handiwork graces part of this album as well) and they've definitely perfected his style of sugary punk pop (see Butch's Marvelous 3 album "Ready, Sex, Go") so in my book that's a plus for them. I've never understood why Butch Walker isn't the biggest songwriter in rock music, because his lyrics are just killer and he writes great catchy hooks.
So anyway, anyone who hasn't heard BFS' huge hit "1985" is living under a rock. Co-written with Mitch and John from SR-71 "1985" made all of us thirty-something people reflect on the last two decades and smile. Heading back to that well again for their new single "High School Never Ends" BFS can appeal to a wider audience this time. The youngsters of today can listen to it and relate to the petty high school drama they are living through, while the rest of us can listen and nod while agreeing with his assessment.
Many BFS songs focus on the singers unlucky in love romantic disasters. These are often told with tongue-in-cheek humor which is part of what makes them so endearing. While "Burrito" has it's share of these songs ("Why Don't I Miss You", "A Friendly Goodbye") it also has a new optimistic outlook as evidenced in "I'm Gay" where the lyrics plead "Don't hate us because we're happy" and how they think "Rock and roll is really funny when it's serious". Halfway through the song the singer leads the other band members in declaring "It's perfectly fine to be a happy individual".
I'm getting a little wordy here, so I'll try to wrap this up. I think if this style of music is your thing then you will probably enjoy this album. I haven't been able to get it out of my car stereo for weeks. Even my wife didn't mind listening to it in the car.
