Song: "The New Thing"
Artist: Bouncing Souls
Album: "The Gold Record"
Year: 2006
"The New Thing" appears to be a song where the vocalist is reflecting back to when his band was young and hungry. When everything was huge, their first show, their first recording, their first time being away from their home town. As he looks back at his career, he realizes that he and his band don't have to continually search for the "new thing". Their sound is their creation and it's something he is proud of and wants to keep creating. While they still dream and they still believe, they are totally content with what they have created and will continue to create. Staying true!! The Bouncing Souls formed as a band back in 1988, hailing from New Jersey. In their early years, they were very much a part of the underground scene, gaining a following in the college town communities. In 1994, the band released their debut album, "The Good, The Bad & The Argyle" on their very own label, Chunksaah Records. This album featured an ode to 80's new wave with covers of the songs "Candy" and "What Boys Like". In 1996, the band released "Maniacal Laughter". This album caught the attention of famous punk label Epitaph Records who promptly signed the Bouncing Souls and released their self-titled album in 1997. This album featured some classic Souls tracks such as "Cracked", "Kate Is Great" and "East Coast Fuck You". 1998 saw the band release "Hopeless Romantic". With songs such as "Ole" and "Hopeless Romantic", some say that this was the album where the Souls truly started to identify their sound. In 2001, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" was released, featuring the tracks "True Believers" and "Manthem". 2001 saw the band release the b-sides compilation "The Bad, The Worse And The Out Of Print" as well as a split with Anti-Flag. In 2003, the Bouncing Souls released their sixth album "Anchors Aweigh", featuring punk anthems like "Sing Along Forever" and "Kids And Heroes". The band also released their first DVD that year as well, titled "Do You Remember? 15 Years Of The Bouncing Souls". 2005 saw the band release their very first live album, the double disc "Live". "The Gold Record" was released in 2006 and featured the single "The Pizza Song" as well as a great cover of "Lean On Sheena", originally performed by the band Avoid One Thing. To celebrate the band's 20th anniversary, they began to release a series of four song EP's, sixteen tracks in all. 12 of these songs would be packaged in a full length cd in 2010 called "Ghosts On The Boardwalk". 2010 saw the band release their latest album, Comet. This album was the band's first since "Maniacal Laughter" that was not released through Epitaph Records, instead the band signed with Rise Records. "Comet" features the songs "Coin Toss Girl" and Ship In A Bottle". Currently, though there is no news of the Souls working on new material or releasing anything in the near future, they are a band who is very active, releasing new material almost every other year, so I'm sure it won't be long for some new activity on the Bouncing Souls front. If you are a fan of pop punk or skate punk, then you should appreciate the Bouncing Souls. There are a plethora of bands who say they've been heavily influenced by the Souls and their music. To name a few, Alkaline Trio, Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem, Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, even a hardcore band like fellow New Jersey natives Thursday have said that the Bouncing Souls were extremely important to their young career. Even now, the Souls have one foot in the underground scene and in punk circles, their respect runs deep.
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