Individual taste is such a powerful element that I hesitate to ever say a band playing a concert in our region is truly awful, because it goes without saying that there's always people who dig that particular band, and there isn't much I can do to quantitatively refute them. It's only my opinion.
But seriously folks, Bowling For Soup is bad.
B-A-D.
They play novelty punk that combines less-creative Blink-182 lyrics with the production aesthetic of whoever spit-shined that Ashlee Simpson record to a deceptive gleam. Their song "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" is a fantastically horrible, shallow depiction of a teenage nerd's crush on a popular girl that's far more stupid than Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag," which despite some nagging endearingness is a hallmark of stupidity in its own right.
I would be positively shocked if anyone who's into the Bowling For Soup song "1985" actually remembers 1985. I would be only slightly less shocked if someone who like that tune was even alive in 1985.
Formed in Wichita Falls, Tex., Bowling for Soup released their major-label debut, "Let's Do It For Johnny," in 2000. Since then, they've sold many boatloads of records, so more power to 'em. None of my CDs have gone gold (as of press time), so I suppose that reduces me to a bitter jerk.
But that doesn't make them any less bad. Blink-182 eventually grew out of water-treading sophomoricness, and that band has also exhibited a shred of punk ethos over the years. Bowling For Soup, who Top-40 radio appears to take seriously as "real rock n' rollers," is about as dangerous-sounding as the Calling, albeit with smartass sensibilities. They would do well to follow Blink's example and ditch the kitsch, particularly since Bowling For Soup wasn't even ever as funny or musically accomplished as they who instructed us to take off our pants and jacket.
Humor is fine; irony is great. But I'll go check out the Darkness when I want a band that rocks and keeps me laughing at the same time.
Bowling For Soup plays Chicago's House of Blues next Wednesday. I won't be there.
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