The Bouncing Souls are a punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey formed in 1987. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-hearted songs, a model followed by various other local bands.

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History

The four original members grew up in Basking Ridge, NJ and played in smaller bands during high school. Although they decided to forgo college, they also made the decision to move to a college town. New Brunswick, NJ, which is the home of Rutgers University, had a reputation for supporting underground music, and over the years had seen not only musical acts but actors enjoy professional success. The Bouncing Souls not only became a staple in the New Brunswick music scene, but also helped other bands gain an audience by opening up for them in the clubs around town, as well as parties and shows they put on themselves. The band's name is a reference to Doc Martens shoes, which were a staple of punk dress. To this day, Doc Martens uses the advertising slogan "with Bouncing Soles" for their air-cushioned soles.

Their first full-length album, The Good, The Bad & The Argyle was released in 1994 on Chunksaah Records, their own label. The album was a compilation of several EPs the band had released previously. Two tracks of this record, "Candy" (popularized by The Strangeloves and covered by many other groups) and "What Boys Like" (originally by the Waitresses) served as homage to 1980s new wave while simultaneously striking a humorous jab at homophobia. Their next album, Maniacal Laughter was released in 1996. Half the album was written in a week. It led to a high profile tour with Youth Brigade that got the attention of Epitaph Records.

The Bouncing Souls signed with Epitaph in 1997 and released The Bouncing Souls later that year. While it contains some Bouncing Souls classics like "Cracked", "Kate is Great", and "East Coast Fuck You!", certain tracks on the record are anticlimactic in comparison to their low-fi earlier recordings. Greg himself stated on Do You Remember? 15 Years of the Bouncing Souls that "It's a CD of unfinished songs." Hopeless Romantic followed in 1999. Hopeless Romantic has been heralded for admixing poignant lyrics with their melodic rapidly-paced punk style. Soon after the album's release, personal problems arose between the band and long-time drummer Shal Khichi which resulted in his departure from the band. He was replaced by former Skinnerbox, Mephiskapheles, and Murphy's Law drummer, Michael McDermott.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation was the first album released with the new line-up. By now, the band had become viewed as seminal to the modern punk sound, with a new generation of fans discovering their earlier releases as they toured with newer bands as well as larger punk acts such as Hot Water Music. 2002 brought a b-sides album, The Bad the Worse and the Out of Print and an acclaimed split with Anti-Flag as part of the BYO Split Series. In 2003, the band released their 6th album Anchors Aweigh, as well as their first DVD, Do You Remember? 15 Years of the Bouncing Souls. In 2004, their cover of "Better Things" by The Kinks was used in the film The Manchurian Candidate . In 2005, they had two live releases, a double CD album, simply titled Live, as well as a DVD, titled Live at the Glasshouse, which was the 19th entry in Kung Fu Films' The Show Must Go Off! series. The band released their 7th album, titled The Gold Record on June 6th, 2006, or 6/6/06 which the band has called 'The number of the release,' in reference to 666, which is known as 'The number of the beast.' Also, due to their first full-length record being a collection of previous releases, many fans also consider this to in fact be their 6th studio album, and thus 666 is also partly in reference to this. They then headed out on the 2006 Warped Tour in support of the record, and again three years later, in 2009.

In 2009, the band is releasing 20th Anniversary Series in the form of 12 digital tracks (released at the beginning of each month) and 4 7" vinyl singles (released once every three months). This new album is being released on the band's own label Chunksaah Records.

Discography

Studio albums

• The Good, The Bad & The Argyle (1994)
• Maniacal Laughter (1996)
• The Bouncing Souls (1997)
• Hopeless Romantic (1999)
• How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2001)
• BYO Split Series, Vol. 4 (2002, split with Anti-Flag)
• Anchors Aweigh (2003)
• The Gold Record (2006)
• 20th Anniversary Series (2009)

EPs

• Ugly Bill (1991) (pressed on black and also transparent green wax)
• The Green Ball Crew e.p. (1993)
• The Argyle e.p. (1993) (pressed on black, yellow, green, and red wax, some had green and yellow covers)
• Neurotic. (1994)
• Tie One On (1998)
• 20th Anniversary Series: Volume One (2009)
• 20th Anniversary Series: Volume Two (2009)
• 20th Anniversary Series: Volume Three (2009)
• 20th Anniversary Series: Volume Four (2009)

Singles

• Tales of Doomed Romance (1994) (split with Buglite)
• The Bouncing Souls/Weston (1994) (split with Weston)
• Bouncing Souls/Basic Skills/Youth Gone Mad/The Reviled (1995) (split with Basic Skills, Youth Gone Mad and The Reviled)
• "Johnny X" (1995)
• "Fight to Live" (1999)
• Tales of Doomed Romance (1994) (reissue with Zero Zero in place of Buglite)
• "Gone" (2001)
• "Bouncing Souls/Lucky Stiffs" (2005) (split with Lucky Stiffs)

Live and Compilation albums

• The Bad the Worse and the Out of Print (2002)
• Live (2005)

DVDs

• Do You Remember? 15 Years of the Bouncing Souls (2003)
• Live at the Glasshouse (2005)

Video Games

• "Manthem" is featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 video game from the album How I Spent My Summer Vacation
• "The Gold Song" is also featured in "Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam from the album The Gold Record''
• "Sing Along Forever: is featured in Burnout 3: Takedown from the album Anchors Aweigh

Singles & Music Videos

• "Joe Lies" (The Good, The Bad & The Argyle )
• "East Side Mags" (The Bouncing Souls )
• "Fight to Live" (Hopeless Romantic )
• "Gone" (How I Spent My Summer Vacation )
• "True Believers" (How I Spent My Summer Vacation )
• "Kids and Heroes" (Anchors Aweigh )
• "Sing Along Forever" (Anchors Aweigh )
• "Anchors Aweigh" (Anchors Aweigh )
• "The Pizza Song" (The Gold Record )
• "Lean on Sheena" (The Gold Record )
• "Airport Security" (20th Anniversary Series )

Members

Current

• Greg Attonito - vocals
• Pete Steinkopf - guitar
• Bryan Kienlen - bass
• Michael McDermott - drums

Previous

• Shal Khichi - drums