*** The Bouncing Souls

HOPELESS ROMANTIC

(Epitaph)

You're either an idiot or a liar if you've spent 10 years cramped in the back of a van touring and never asked yourself two questions: what the hell am I doing and who the hell have I become? That's when it's time to become a drug addict, an accountant, or write the reflective three-chords-free-booze-and-short-skirts-have-been-giving-me-a-hard-on-for-more-han-10-years album. It's the classic punk-rock midlife crisis.

And that's what Hopeless Romantic (Epitaph) is -- a nostalgic look at good old erections: first shows, rock-and-roll lays, and the dreams of punks who might become stars. There's a kind of an immature maturity here, like finding that first pubic hair and realizing it's time to put those GI Joe figures down. Gorgeous arm-hair-raising guitar melodies weave in and out of chunky, midtempo grooves on " '87," "Night on Earth," and "The Whole Thing," as Greg Attonito croons and waxes nostalgic. Which is not to imply that Attonito and the Souls are ready for Viagra just yet. Barroom blasts like "Hopeless Romantic" and "You're So Rad" are proof they haven't gone limp.

-- Lorne Behrman