The Bouncing Souls

The Bouncing Souls
The Bouncing Souls performing on February 16, 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Background information
Origin	New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Rise, Chunksaah, Epitaph, BYO Records
Website	www.bouncingsouls.com
Members	Greg Attonito Pete Steinkopf Bryan Kienlen George Rebelo
Past members	Shal Khichi Michael McDermott

The Bouncing Souls are an American punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. 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.

The four original members grew up in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and played in smaller bands during high school. Although they decided to forgo college, they made the decision to move to a college town; New Brunswick, NJ, which is the home of Rutgers University. New Brunswick 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 derivative of Doc Martens shoes, specifically their advertising slogan "with Bouncing Soles". Doctor Martens air-cushioned soles are a staple of punk dress.

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.