Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
The Trial & The Death of Socrates
The World of Italian Hits of the 90's [Import]
Underground Classics: 1994-1998 [Explicit Lyrics]
The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty
The Steel Guitar of Bobby Black
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As the third track on How I Spent My Summer Vacation makes abundantly clear, the Bouncing Souls are "True Believers," utterly uncompromising stalwarts of punk. By "punk," they do not mean the art-school flamboyance or anarcho-posturings of the Sex Pistols, or the heartfelt, in-your-face raging of Henry Rollins and Black Flag. Rather, this is the simple peacetime punk of kids with energy to spare. It's about sunny days, pretty girls, BMX bikes, and playful pogoing. It's about loneliness, alienation, and the desperate conviction of teenage love. And, above all, it's about music as a force for good. The Bouncing Souls deliver a positivist, anthemic pop that's specifically designed to raise depressed spirits, as evinced lyrically by the two openers, "That Song" and "Private Radio," and the closing tune, "Gone." In this respect, they have much in common with Green Day and the Offspring, but they carefully avoid the deliberate frivolity of those bands, evidently aiming to reflect the lives and feelings of their fans instead of becoming rock & roll personalities themselves. Unfortunately, this realism makes How I Spent My Summer Vacation increasingly inconsequential as the tracks pass. But, in short bursts, it is what it intends to be--great fun. --Dominic Wills
Album Description
How I Spent My Summer Vacation sets its tone on its first track 'That Song', an ode to all the songs, which hold the power to define our lives. Through out the album the themes of joy and belief repeat themselves, illustrating that feeling of true freedom that can only be found in a punk rock. Tracks like 'True Believers' and 'Better Life' are battle cry's for those who seek the freedom and control that punk rock brings, while 'Streetlight Serenade' is a ballad dedicated to a BMX bike 'and everything else that I like,' The album's powerhouse closer is the song 'Gone' which offers up one of those hooks that is destined to stick with you for a life time. 13 tracks. 2001 release.