Reliably on point as ever, The Bouncing Souls’ new song ‘As One’ channels street punk on the bass, alongside their ever-present focus, a community strength cut with a darker edge. There’ll never be a time when we don’t welcome the sight of Greg Attonito swaggering his way through ‘True Believers’, chorus aflame and beers raised in salute. ‘Gone’ gives us the first anthem moment that we crave, with each singalong-second heartfelt. Calling this tour a Winter Circus feels a tad reductive after the moment of honesty that The Bouncing Souls conjure.

Of course, we’re here for the mini-festival atmosphere that Less Than Jake conjure at every show. It’s almost like a quality guarantee that could be stamped on every ticket: we know exactly what we’re going to get, and it’s going to satisfy our urges for healthy nostalgia and a time to dance like we’re in a field circa 2004. Red lights glint off thrown glasses as we’re swept into ‘History Of A Boring Town’ as Chris DeMakes conducts our singalong, and we’re in full voice from the second the drop hits. “It’s too fuckin’ easy to play here! You just go crazy for the first note,” the frontman laughs, and he’s right too. We’d still be bouncing off the walls if they read their shopping lists for ninety minutes, but their little touches of drama – the blasts of smoke, the synchronised jumps, the inflatable mascots, the masked rabble-rousers that leap onstage – fuel a show that reaches beyond the standard look back at the greatest hits. As Roger Lima takes over vocals for ‘Lie To Me’, a burst of magnificent optimism sends a crowd-surfer flipping and extending ropes of connection into the audience. No one needs to be told to create a “unity pit” for ‘Last One Out Of Liberty City’, and our shouts can’t be repressed as we’re flung into ‘All My Best Friends Are Metalheads’. Phones rise and shoes are lost from feet as even the security guards are bemused at the sight of folk in their fifties skanking like no tomorrow, while remaining word-perfect and in total sync with DeMakes. 

It’s always tricky for a band with such a long history to balance the old and the new – the anniversary retrospective hits with the newer numbers – but Less Than Jake seem to walk that tightrope with precision. Yes, most of the crowd are drawn by songs like ‘Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts’, its massive tension rising into a drop that crashes like a tidal wave with a note of longing on the fade out, or ‘The Science Of Selling Yourself Short’, a song that drags you back to a time when you could have been sincerely speaking those lyrics. However, while the newer songs peppering the set might not have the instant recognition of their hits, a track like ‘Walking Pipebomb’ is infused with their original energy like a teabag in hot water, the pressure cooker tempo radiating through tightly clicking rhythms. Meanwhile, ‘Sunny Side’ offers a gentler openness that finds something inspiring within the trumpet whirls that build as the song unfolds. DeMakes’ solo take on ‘The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out’ is lush. Our emotion fills in the gaps left by the full band, and it’s our overwhelming singing that makes ‘Look What Happened’ so memorable live. We’re rapt until the last second when a glossy ‘Gainesville Rock City’ keeps us dancing until the howled finale. 

The healthy niche that Less Than Jake have carved for themselves, as purveyors of consistently party-oriented tunes cut with cynicism that fulfil our need for nostalgia without cliche, has proven to be a welcome part of every millennial punk’s year. They’re obviously a polished ska-punk machine by now, but it’s the community they’ve built around themselves which makes tonight shine, and the joy you see beaming from every corner of the venue elevates the band above many of their contemporaries. This Winter Circus is welcome to roll back into town any time. 

Kate Allvey

It is the first single from their upcoming debut album, ‘Roach’, which will be digitally available on the 21st June and physically on the 1st July through Plasterer Records.

They will also be playing the following shows.

JUNE
21 NORWICH Owl Sanctuary w/ The Bouncing Souls, Great Cynics + Hot Mass
22 LIVERPOOL North Shore Troubadour w/ Johnny West Is Missing, Bear Trap + Twin Visions
23 DERBY The Hairy Dog
24 IPSWICH The Smokehouse w/ Vanilla Pod + The Kirkz
25 MIDDLESBOROUGH Westgarth Social Club w/ Alien8, Mr. Bigfoot, Nancy + Dino Splooge
28 WARRINGTON Old Town House w/ Billy Liar + Empty Lungs
29 CANTERBURY The Lady Luck
JULY
01-02 LONDON Wonkfest, The Dome Tufnell Park
09 BOLTON Alma Inn w/ Beach Slang, Zapiain + Native Wasteland
15 MANCHESTER Retro Bar w/ Roughneck Riot, Drones, Fat Randall + Habits
22 NORWICH The Salty Dog w/ The Barstool Preachers + Hummer
SEPTEMBER
30 LONDON T.Chances w/ Blatoidea + Chewed Up

Available for PWYW download on bandcamp, the song precedes the band’s forthcoming debut album, ‘Roach’, which will be digitally available on the 21st June and physically on the 1st July through Plasterer Records.

They will also be playing the following shows.

JUNE
21 NORWICH Owl Sanctuary w/ The Bouncing Souls, Great Cynics + Hot Mass
22 LIVERPOOL North Shore Troubadour w/ Johnny West Is Missing, Bear Trap + Twin Visions
23 DERBY The Hairy Dog
24 IPSWICH The Smokehouse w/ Vanilla Pod + The Kirkz
25 MIDDLESBOROUGH Westgarth Social Club w/ Alien8, Mr. Bigfoot, Nancy + Dino Splooge
28 WARRINGTON Old Town House w/ Billy Liar + Empty Lungs
29 CANTERBURY The Lady Luck
JULY
01-02 LONDON Wonkfest, The Dome Tufnell Park
09 BOLTON Alma Inn w/ Beach Slang, Zapiain + Native Wasteland
15 MANCHESTER Retro Bar w/ Roughneck Riot, Drones, Fat Randall + Habits
22 NORWICH The Salty Dog w/ The Barstool Preachers + Hummer
SEPTEMBER
30 LONDON T.Chances w/ Blatoidea + Chewed Up

Originally Great Collapse were set to play the shows, but had to pull out for personal reasons.

Hot Mass released their debut album, ‘Nervous Tensions’, last year on Brassneck Records, All in Vinyl and Waterslide Records.

As for the bands; The Bouncing Souls released their tenth album ‘Simplicity’ last year on Chunksaah Records and Rise Records, whilst Great Cynics’ latest is their fourth album, ‘POSI’, earlier this year through Specialist Subject Records, Lame-O Records and Guerilla Asso.

JUNE
18 BRIGHTON The Haunt
19 LEEDS Brudnell Social Club
20 DERBY The Hairy Dog
21 NORWICH The Owl Sanctuary
22 LONDON The Dome

The track is taken from their 2016 album, ‘Simplicity’, and you can see the video below, along with the dates for their upcoming UK tour.

June
18 BRIGHTON The Haunt
19 LEEDS Brudnell Social Club
20 DERBY The Hairy Dog
21 NORWICH The Owl Sanctuary
22 LONDON The Dome

All proceeds from downloading the track will go to supporting the Indigenous Environmental Network, who deal with environmental protection and the support of indigenous peoples. This organisation is currently associated with aiding the protestors at Standing Rock. You can purchase the song here.

The New Jersey punks’ latest album is their tenth effort, ‘Simplicity’, which came out last year on Rise Records and Chunksaah Records.

What separates The Bouncing Souls from many of their contemporaries is the way in they add a melody to their songs without being a carbon copy pop-punk band, and virtually anything they have written can be considered an anthem. ‘Driving All Night’, ‘Satellite’, and ‘Up To Us’ are vintage Bouncing Souls at their best. Greg Attonito’s vocals are smooth and clear over simple, four chord punk riffs, with a tight rhythm section of driving bass lines and sharp snare cracks.

However the problem with ‘Simplicity’ is that you can’t help but feel you have heard these songs before, on every Bouncing Souls album. Even on the first listen you can sing along to the tracks as you can almost predict where the vocal pattern is going to go, where the chorus is going to come in, and when the next “wooooaaah” gang shout is going to happen. Sure, if The Bouncing Souls had released a proto-prog rock or neo-folk album, then people would have sneered, but very little has been done to mix things up on ‘Simplicity’.

It also feels that despite this being the first record to feature Hot Water Music drummer George Rebelo, he has not been used to the best of his abilities. While ‘Writing On The Wall’ and ‘Tightrope’ are decent punk songs, Rebelo has kept his beats very standard, rather than using some of the more interesting fills and syncopation that he is more than capable of. Look back at his work on ‘No Division’ and ‘Forever and Counting’ by Hot Water Music. Few punk rock bands were using some of those time signatures back then, and had he brought some of that to ‘Simplicity’, then perhaps tracks like ‘I Wanna Be Bored’ wouldn’t seem so… boring.

That being said, die-hard Bouncing Souls fans will surely love ‘Simplicity’. It may not have the same urgency as ‘Hopeless Romantic’ or the carefree attitude of ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’, but it does what it says on the tin. Regardless of ‘Simplicity’ not being a classic record in their back-catalogue, it won’t sully the bands legacy, and is very much a Bouncing Souls album.

GLEN BUSHELL

‘Simplicity’ will be available through Rise Records.

AUGUST
02 HUDDERSFIELD The Parish
03 GLASGOW Stereo
04 BLACKPOOL Rebellion Festival
05 BRISTOL The Exchange
06 LONDON Underworld
07 KINGSTON Fighting Cocks

The first day of Fest is always exciting. You see people you’ve not seen all year, you meet new people, you drink far too much and you party far too hard. It’s also the day of the pool party and the flea market, both of which are an amazing start to the weekend. There’s nothing better than sitting with your feet in the pool in the Florida sunshine with your friends, especially when the pool is full of punks.

We would like to give a special shout out to Checkers. Without your mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce at ridiculous hours of the morning (or 11pm for some) we would not have been able to survive. Yes we got that sauce all over one of the beds in our room but it was WORTH IT.

Check out our photos below!

It’s taken from their latest album ‘Comet’ (read our review here), and you can check out the video at http://www.spinner.com/2012/07/11/the-bouncing-souls-static-video/ or by using the video player embedded in this article.

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