ALBUM REVIEW: Ten Stories High – The Bouncing Souls
New Jersey’s THE BOUNCING SOULS are back with their twelfth studio album, Ten Stories High. For those of you who might recognise the name, but can’t place it, or maybe haven’t heard them at all, you have this band to thank if you’re involved in the pop-punk or skate-punk scenes as they are as equally influential as the likes of BLINK-182 and GREEN DAY and actually formed all the way back in 1989. And this record brings everything back to basics with fantastic punk tracks.
As the album opens with the title track and lead single, listeners are greeted with a pop-punk intro, styled to sound as if it’s playing through a radio before fully kicking off as a fun, energetic track that draws comparisons to BLINK-182’s California. It’s a strong start, and by the end of it you should be happy, pumped, and ready for more.
Not once does the energy dwindle from there as the entire record is filled with banger after banger. For some artists, playing the exact same style throughout an album is a huge no-no as after a while things can become boring and the songs start to blur into one long track, but THE BOUNCING SOULS have the skill and charisma to keep every one of these ten tracks feeling fresh and unique.
There are points where different tracks can make you think of other artists, some from the same era the band debuted in like True Believer Radio where the vocal style makes you think of Billie Joe Armstrong, but mostly you hear the bands that followed and were likely heavily influenced by them. Kenver for example is similar to NECK DEEP’s Life’s Not Out To Get You, and Higher Ground meanwhile has an arrangement similar to FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE’s Stacy’s Mom. Moments like these make you wonder at how much THE BOUNCING SOULS have influenced the modern scene while remaining as underrated as they are.
As mentioned, a lot of the songs follow a simple formula of punchy instruments, anthemic choruses and lyrics to scream along to, and to be honest you just can’t go wrong with this. You can’t help but picture a sweaty gig and a surging crowd eager to crowd surf, mosh and surge forward to shout along the lyrics. Again, you just can’t go wrong.
And with the majority of the tracks on the record coming in somewhere below the two minute thirty seconds mark, Ten Stories High is the perfect album to get you pumped and excited. It’s nostalgic yet modern, and undeniably fun.
Rating: 8/10
Ten Stories High is set for release on March 24th via Pure Noise Records.
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