Artist: Bowling For Soup
Album: Lunch. Drunk. Love.
Genre: Pop Rock

Sometimes in order to really understand music, the listener must really take the time to break it down to the most basic form. It requires picking it apart and ripping away any stereotypes clinging to the genre or street credibility associated with the sound. Realistically in the end, the only thing that REALLY matters in music can be broken down to one simple question; was this done well?

Take the genre of power pop for example. Often viewed as a throwaway music followed by a Warped Tour attending, Hot Topic shopping jilted youth, the scene as a whole often ends up swept under the rug and tagged as a trendy and temporary fad. In some cases this is true.

Bowling for Soup is neither. Clever and catchy since 1994, the band has made a career out of singing the thing you only have the courage to say to your closest friends. Blunt and sarcastic the band walks a tightrope of tongue in cheek one-liners and comedic gold. Picture the lovechild of Motion City Soundtrack and Bloodhound Gang if Butch Walker had produced it. Fuck street cred.

I mean, where else are you going to find an album that so casually sneaks in lines like “…and you have great natural boobies.” Hell, the band sums up their entire career in the song “From the Rooftops” as they scream, “Follow your heart, fuck everybody else.” Who wouldn’t buy that?

People with shitty taste in music, that’s who.

However, there will be no buyer’s remorse when it comes to Lunch. Drunk. Love. Bowling For Soup’s 12 Studio album is as close to perfect as pop-punk can be. “Real” is radio gold. With riffs stolen from The Cars and witty pop culture references, the infectious tune punches you right in the mouth while making you shake your ass in an embarrassing white boy manner.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

However, if the power-pop sound isn’t your thing, tracks like “Circle” and “I Think You Like Me Too” offer a softer side of Bowling for Soup. “How Far Can This Go” follows suit, with candid no bullshit lyrics about hope and pushing forward. The band manages to shove some message in their happy-go-lucky clusterfuck of shenanigans.

Their ability to do both provides a solid spotlight for the talent of an often-overlooked band. Lunch. Drunk. Love however is anything but overrated. Bowling for Soup has offered their fans the best album they’ve released since 2002’s Drunk Enough To Dance.

If that isn’t relevance I don’t know what is. God forbid that this album be the swan song for such a talented and entertaining band. However, if the group does opt to bow out, I have nothing but respect for the manner in which they’ve flamed out.

This is rock and rock, regardless of what genre you shove it into.

SCORE: 8/10
Review written by: Joshua Hammond (follow him on Twitter)

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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