Another good album that wasn’t quite good enough to make my year-end list is The Gold Record from Bouncing Souls. These New Jersey boys have been around forever playing the punk proteges of Bruce Springsteen and everything that has made them among the finest of the elder statesmen of modern punk rock is on display on this album.
Two of the strongest songs are covers, which could be a sign of weak songwriting, but I think is more indicative of the strength of their musicianship. “Lean on Sheena” in particular is bounce-off-the-walls fun and a substantial improvement on the (already solid) original. And while I slightly prefer Dar Williams’ cover “Better Things” to theirs, that’s not really much of a slam against them: I mean, it’s Dar Williams.
Other highlights include the requisite ode to busting out of Asbury and growing up in “So Jersey,” the anthemic “Sounds of the City,” and “For All the Unheard” which shakes things up a bit to close the record on a climactic note.
Still, given how much I’ve been talking about Iraq recently, I thought it was worth calling specific attention to this song. It’s easy to get preachy talking about the war, even if what you’re saying is important and true. Recognizing this, they choose not to write a polemic themselves, but instead simply set to music the words of a soldier in the US military. Speaking for others is always a dangerous game, but they give it a thoughtful and heartfelt treatment.