Bowling For Soup

The Great Burrito Extortion Case

Written by: PP on 14/11/2006 17:16:44

"It's perfectly fine to be a happy individual (...) And you don't have to be sad anymore! You don't have to be mad anymore (...) It sells records when you're sad these days, it's super cool to be mad these days". Maybe Bowling For Soup didn't originally intend their song "I'm Gay" to be interpreted this way, but the double irony of the lyrics together with the song title to emokids is not missed on me, while at the same time the band makes a good point about the recent trend in record sales (old meaning of gay=happy). "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" is an album that isn't afraid to make fun of emokids ("Much More Beautiful Person") and movie stars ("Val Kilmer") alike. It's the ultimate high school punk rock album of 2006 for those of us who are high schoolers forever in our hearts.

As soon as the high-on-life lead of "Epiphany" opened the album, I fell in love. Every generation has their high school punk/pop punk album - Bowling For Soup's "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" might well be current generation's one. Silly songs playfully (though the seriousness is implied) making fun of people, happy songs about girls and unforgettable melodies make you sing along song after song. The ironic lyrics shouldn't leave anyone cold, just take a listen to the parallel that the infectiously catchy "High School Never Ends" draws between celebrities and high school divas: "The whole damn world is just as obsessed with who's the best dressed and who's having sex, who's got the money, who gets the honeys, who's kinda cute and who's just a mess (...) High school never ends!".

Artistically this album is about as original as the new FIFA Soccer game each year. The slower songs like "Why Don't I Miss You" sound unmistakebly like "Catalyst"-era New Found Glory while the fast upbeat ones push reminiscions of early Simple Plan or The All American Rejects in your mind. But does it really matter? The songs are infectiously catchy, and are either humorously ironic or cutely optimistic about the young generation and their worry-free love lives and not-so-serious troubles of growing up. It's too bad the second half of the album is so much slower and more ballady than the first half, because otherwise this album could have rated much higher.

For those moments when you aren't in the mood for listening to Bullet For My Valentine or Bring Me The Horizon, or you just want something unserious to listen to for once, "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" is perfect. It makes you nostalgic of your own high school times, and if nothing else, puts you in a great mood, because Bowling For Soup aren't planning on growing up in the foreseeable future.

7

Download: High School Never Ends, Val Kilmer
For the fans of: Simple Plan, New Found Glory, The All-American Rejects, American Hi-Fi
Listen: Myspace

Release date 07.11.2006
Jive

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