Music Review: Bowling For Soup "Punk Rock 101"
Bowling For Soup
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Punk Rock 101
Album: Drunk Enough To Dance
Year: 2003
Jaret Reddick unsuccessfully parodies the formula of writing a pseudo-punk song in the meta "Punk Rock 101."
First rule: write about two teenagers who are in a relationship. Make them as dumb as possible, hoping the teen audience will not realize you really are mocking them. Characterize the girl as clueless about the genre. However, have the girl think she knows about it. Insert the retail store where most mainstream goths go (Hot Topic.) Have her think her boyfriend actually likes her for her. Characterize the guy as heartless and only looking for some ass. Have him pretending to like the newest trend in music (emo) but actually enjoy rap. Make him penniless. ("She works at Hot Topic/His heart microscopic/She thinks that its love but to him its sex/He listens to emo but fat mike's his hero/His bank account's zero/What comes next?")
Then, acknowledge the fact that your single sounds like every other pseudo-punk song on the radio. Even though it sounds like every punk song on the radio. ("same song, different chorus.")
In your chorus, rip off a famous phrase from a classic song (like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit for instance.) Hoping the 25-40 demographic (re: not your usual audience who normally thinks your singles are crap) will recongnize. Hope they like you and gives it some street cred. Make a statement about how you don't like being caterogized in the genre, either. Then, make a bunch of pop culture references to the style of clothing. Decry your genre again. ("It's stupid, contagious/To be broke and famous/Can someone please save us from punk rock 101/My Dickies, your sweat bands/My spiked hair, your new Vans/Let's throw up our rock hands for punk rock 101.")
In the second verse, continue with the pointless predictable story about the two teenagers. Make the girl buy him something, thinking she will turn him into something he's not. To have some sort of continuity, have him take back the gift at a pawn something for something better.
Have the teenagers break up over something lame and pop-culture related. Make the pop culture reference aimed at the 25-40 age group. Have the 12 - 18 listeners ask "Who's Bon Jovi? Is it some sort of chocolate?" instead of laughing at your pop culture reference. ("She bought him a skateboard, a rail slide, his knee tore/He traded it for drums at the local pawn shop/She left him for staring at girls and not caring/When she cried because she thought Bon Jovi broke up.")
Acknowledge the fact that even though your listeners may have changed the radio station back and forth, that yes, unfortunately it's the same song. ("Same song second chorus.")
After the chorus, make fun of something technical which will go over your audience's head. ("don't forget to delay...on the very last word.")
Then, for the bridge, slow it down to tell the conclusion of the story. Make the guy and girl turn out to be losers forever like all the other songs. Then, make another lyrical reference to Bon Jovi. Then copy their hit song's ("Living On A Prayer.") chorus briefly. Have another band member have a mock response of "Oh no, you di'nt just cite a single as lame as our song!" ("Seven years later he works as a waiter/She married a trucker and he's never there/
The story never changes, just the names and faces/Like Tommy and Gina they're living on a prayer/Did you just say that?/I said.")
The chorus is shouted twice to end the chorus.
The witless "Punk Rock 101" only copies the formula, which isn't really a parody. It's just copying. Now, if they had turned the cliches on their heads it would have a caused a laugh. The Nirvana reference only serves of a reminder of what the audience should really be listening to instead of being a friendly nod. Meanwhile, the Bon Jovi references are overdone.
Album: Drunk Enough To Dance
Year: 2003
Jaret Reddick unsuccessfully parodies the formula of writing a pseudo-punk song in the meta "Punk Rock 101."
First rule: write about two teenagers who are in a relationship. Make them as dumb as possible, hoping the teen audience will not realize you really are mocking them. Characterize the girl as clueless about the genre. However, have the girl think she knows about it. Insert the retail store where most mainstream goths go (Hot Topic.) Have her think her boyfriend actually likes her for her. Characterize the guy as heartless and only looking for some ass. Have him pretending to like the newest trend in music (emo) but actually enjoy rap. Make him penniless. ("She works at Hot Topic/His heart microscopic/She thinks that its love but to him its sex/He listens to emo but fat mike's his hero/His bank account's zero/What comes next?")
Then, acknowledge the fact that your single sounds like every other pseudo-punk song on the radio. Even though it sounds like every punk song on the radio. ("same song, different chorus.")
In your chorus, rip off a famous phrase from a classic song (like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit for instance.) Hoping the 25-40 demographic (re: not your usual audience who normally thinks your singles are crap) will recongnize. Hope they like you and gives it some street cred. Make a statement about how you don't like being caterogized in the genre, either. Then, make a bunch of pop culture references to the style of clothing. Decry your genre again. ("It's stupid, contagious/To be broke and famous/Can someone please save us from punk rock 101/My Dickies, your sweat bands/My spiked hair, your new Vans/Let's throw up our rock hands for punk rock 101.")
In the second verse, continue with the pointless predictable story about the two teenagers. Make the girl buy him something, thinking she will turn him into something he's not. To have some sort of continuity, have him take back the gift at a pawn something for something better.
Have the teenagers break up over something lame and pop-culture related. Make the pop culture reference aimed at the 25-40 age group. Have the 12 - 18 listeners ask "Who's Bon Jovi? Is it some sort of chocolate?" instead of laughing at your pop culture reference. ("She bought him a skateboard, a rail slide, his knee tore/He traded it for drums at the local pawn shop/She left him for staring at girls and not caring/When she cried because she thought Bon Jovi broke up.")
Acknowledge the fact that even though your listeners may have changed the radio station back and forth, that yes, unfortunately it's the same song. ("Same song second chorus.")
After the chorus, make fun of something technical which will go over your audience's head. ("don't forget to delay...on the very last word.")
Then, for the bridge, slow it down to tell the conclusion of the story. Make the guy and girl turn out to be losers forever like all the other songs. Then, make another lyrical reference to Bon Jovi. Then copy their hit song's ("Living On A Prayer.") chorus briefly. Have another band member have a mock response of "Oh no, you di'nt just cite a single as lame as our song!" ("Seven years later he works as a waiter/She married a trucker and he's never there/
The story never changes, just the names and faces/Like Tommy and Gina they're living on a prayer/Did you just say that?/I said.")
The chorus is shouted twice to end the chorus.
The witless "Punk Rock 101" only copies the formula, which isn't really a parody. It's just copying. Now, if they had turned the cliches on their heads it would have a caused a laugh. The Nirvana reference only serves of a reminder of what the audience should really be listening to instead of being a friendly nod. Meanwhile, the Bon Jovi references are overdone.