Music Review: Bowling For Soup, Songs That People Actually Liked, Volume 1

By Tyler Hodg

Here’s something that might make you feel old: Bowling for Soup has been making music since 1994. With the release of their first official greatest hits album Songs That People Actually Liked – Volume 1 – The First Ten Years (1994-2004), the band reminds us all that music doesn’t need to be taken seriously to be enjoyable.

It’s hard to listen to this greatest hits collection and not be transported back to the early 2000s. At that time, pop-punk was king (mainly to kids and teenagers) and you would be hard pressed not to see a band like Bowling for Soup on the Much Music video countdown at some position. Unfortunately for a lot of the bands from that era, they’ve either refused or neglected to evolve with the ever-changing times. Only a handful made it out alive, with Sum 41, Blink-182, and Green Day all being standouts.

So where does Bowling for Soup fit in? Well, I think the title of this album says it all. After the release of their 2004 Grammy-nominated album A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, the band dropped off the face of the Earth for most people. They have never been able to regain the success of their early years and probably never will, but that’s OK, because they are still doing it and loving what they do. Their attitude is perfectly summed up in their 2013 song “Critically Disdained” with the lyrics “We’re not here to change the world, we’re here to laugh at others/Maybe get a nap along the way,” To this day, the band is making pop-punk music and they have yet to lose the humor they possessed at the start of their career.

With 18 songs included, this album is actually quite lengthy. Bowling for Soup was able to release seven albums within a ten-year span, leaving the band with a lot of material to choose from. Of course “Punk Rock 101” and “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” both see a spot on this album, but what’s interesting is that although the songs off this compilation span from 1994-2004, not a single song off of A Hangover You Don’t Deserve is featured. Arguably their biggest single, “1985”, is included in that absence and surprisingly, it’s not necessarily missed. There are an abundance of catchy, quick humored tracks to make up for it.

Is it wrong to love something predominantly based off of nostalgia? Well, it shouldn’t be. Bowling for Soup perfectly symbolizes youth for many people and it’s normal to look back on those days from time to time. Songs That People Actually Liked – Volume 1 – The First Ten Years (1994-2004) is a blast from the past and Bowling for Soup’s energetic, humorous music is just as good today as it was when it was first released.

Songs That People Actually Liked, Volume 1 was released through Que-So/Brando Records on January 27.