Bowling For Soup

The pop-punk sound that bands like Blink-182 and Good Charlotte made huge in the ’90s couldn’t help but sound dopey and self-deprecating, and Texas’ Bowling For Soup has made a key strength of that fact since forming 16 years ago. The 2009 album Sorry For Partyin’ stays the course: The vocal melodies are catchy but nasally, the playing’s feisty but polished, song titles include “My Wena” and “Hooray For Beer,” and the cover depicts the band members jumping into a toilet bowl. Factor in some sensitive-guy moments, and it adds up as a more sincere and competent effort than what Weezer’s hocking up these days. The band is currently touring behind 2011’s Fishin’ For Woos. The album’s first single, “S-S-S-Saturday,” was performed live on television for—wait for it—the Professional Bowlers Association’s Tournament Of Champions.

Updated 04/18/2012