Mike McLaughlin
The Bouncing Souls celebrate a punk rock milestone
New Jersey’s beloved The Bouncing Souls has been purveying its signature brand of passionate punk rock for two decades now with little sign of slowing down. Built on a foundation of friendship and fun this DIY outfit takes its name from Doc Martens shoes a staple in any punk’s wardrobe which provided the band’s sole-bolstering footwear during its climb to the top of the punk rock heap. Winning the hearts of its fans with sing-along-inspiring tunes and a take-no-prisoners approach to partying down the band cemented its status as one –to watch with its debut full-length release The Good the Bad & the Argyle way back in 1994.
“It’s been great making music and seeing the world while touring and experiencing everything we have over the past 20-odd years” confirms Bouncing Souls vocalist and founding member Greg Attonito. “We’ve achieved things that were beyond our wildest dreams and have a huge extended family of friends and fans to show for it. We just visited South America and Mexico to perform for the first time there. The show in Mexico City was particularly awesome; people travelled from all over to see us. There was a tremendous build up to it and the audience was super excited. They were so appreciative. After this long it’s still an amazing thing to me that we’re so in demand.”
More recently the Warped Tour regular has reinforced its relevance with the band further proving its staying power through solid recordings including the nautically themed Anchors Away (2003). This emotionally charged three-chord wonder was followed by the band’s antiwar (but decidedly pro-soldier) followup The Gold Record which raised both ire and eyebrows when it hit the shelves on June 6 2006.
“I’m so glad it all came together and we were able to release The Gold Record on 06/06/06” says Attonito with a chuckle. “We also played six nights in a row at New York’s famous Knitting Factory with our final show landing on that same date. It was the most evil show we’ve ever played and it was so punishing it almost killed us. We’ve always been “Bad Ass” as the song goes but we’ve never made the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. Sometimes in the past people may have brushed us off as another dumb punk band but we like to think we make another statement by the way we live our lives. I find it strange how the critics who pass judgment on us tend to miss the love we share with our fans because the guy crowd-surfing in his wheelchair would tell you that our music saved his life.”
Buoying and imbibing spirits with equal skill Attonito along with guitarist Pete “The Pete” Steinkopf bassist Bryan “Papillon” Kienlen and drummer Michael McDermott is more than happy to be in a position to survey his conquests with a smile. With 20-plus years of good times to commemorate the band has opted to celebrate its fortuitous longevity by doling out some of its freshly minted original material in fits and bursts. Presented on the band’s very own Chunksaah Records label the 20th Anniversary Series will appear online as 12 digital tracks to be released at the beginning of each month and four 7-inch vinyl singles to follow quarterly. In Antonito’s estimation the releases should satisfy tech-savvy punk zealots and stalwart analogue-types alike.
“The new music is really good” he reports. “We’ve even thrown in an acoustic version of one of the songs. At the end of the year the whole thing will be released together as a new CD which should be out in December or January. It’s an unusual way to go about things but when we all got together this time last year we knew we wanted to do something different for our 20-year celebration. That’s where the Internet came in. It’s doubly rewarding when you find a different way to get new generations involved with your life’s work. For us it’s definitely a true labour of love.”
