Bouncing Souls - Troubadour - 11/9/11
There are only a few punk rock bands that can take over The Troubadour for four nights in a row and sell out the run. But as part of their "For All The Unheard" international tour, upbeat New Brunswick quartet Bouncing Souls did just that. Even better, they performed almost every song they ever wrote -- eight albums worth; two records a night, in chronological order. 
Javier Cabral Bouncing Souls
Quintessential '80s L.A. punk band, Youth Brigade opened, and damn near stole the show. Their fast and raw songs led to sing alongs and unmerciful moshing. Sure, original singer and drummer Shawn and Mark Stern are pretty old but that still didn't stop them from getting down. They plowed through hits like "Violence" as fast and powerfully as they in all those documentary videos I've seen, and ended with their epic, "Sink with Kalifonija."
Javier Cabral Youth Brigade opening up for Bouncing Souls
Nonetheless, everyone was there for the Souls. "Eye of the Tiger" kicked off the next part of the show, along with a pre-recorded soundtrack voice of a guy announcing the show as if it were a boxing match -- "fighting for the world championship punk rock belt!"
For this show last night they did their first two albums, The Good, The Bad & The Argyle and Maniacal Laughter. The first set was their whole first album. Singer Greg Attonito began, of course, with the album's cult opener "I Like your Mom."
Everyone seemed to sing along to every single song, and their backdrop kept changing, ranging from fuzzy videos of a Betty Page striptease to buildings getting burnt down and, of course, a black and white silhouette of a broken heart.
As soon as they finished their first album, the band disappeared from the stage and "Eye of the Tiger" came back on again. This time though, a scandalously clad punk rock ring girl (below) walked on stage holding up a sign bearing the title of their second album, Maniacal Laughter.
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