Source: Album Artwork
Having recently just been announced as one of the main acts for Slam Dunk Festival 2017, Bowling For Soup are a band most of us are familiar with for how long they’ve been around. There are not many bands able to say that they’ve just released their 18th album. That’s right. 18th. Let that just sink in for a moment.
The band’s latest release Acoustic In A Freakin’ English Church is a live CD/DVD album which does what it says on the tin. The band play a bunch of their acoustic classics in an English church.
The album opens with ‘Me With No You’ which doesn’t feel like a wise move as it’s one of the more emotional tracks Bowling For Soup have released. Though it’s a song that gives us chills, it’s a bit of a miserable album opener and we would have preferred something a bit more upbeat to pump us up for the rest of the live album. ‘Last Call Casualty’ is one of the greater acoustic tracks on the album. It stands out due to Jaret Reddick and his strong vocals, making the acoustic just as catchy as the original record.
‘1985’ shows off the band’s talent and the connection they have with their fans but is nothing incredible. It’s pleasing, it’s nice to listen to, but doesn’t make you sit back and think wow. Though, the crowd participation was oddly beautiful and a nice twist to the track.
The album is a bit mellow and doesn’t particularly excite us to what the band still may have in store. Some critics may say the band have long lived their welcome but this isn’t the case, we still want to see Bowling For Soup release more and more and never stop. However, this live album is something nice and memorable for the fans who attended the gig but nothing amazing for listeners who couldn’t be there.
