Other albums like Bowling for Soup's A Hangover You Don't Deserve?

March 30, 2023 2:50 PM

A long time ago somebody gave me a copy of Bowling for Soup's A Hangover You Don't Deserve and I find it nice background music while I'm doing something else. What are some other albums that might scratch the same itch for me?

I like the combination of the pop-y/rock-y punk background and generally catchy, upbeat (in multiple senses of the word), melodies, often with stories in them.

Some of the lyrics in the album do feel a bit dated at this point, and recommendations omitting that would be a plus.

posted by unus sum to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

The band Too Much Joy fits a similar description, I think? I wrote a review of their record Cereal Killers for the school paper back when I was in high school. I didn’t meet anyone else who liked the band, but I think I thought they were amusing and very upbeat in that pop/punk-y way.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 3:05 PM on March 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

Your album reminds me of The Ataris: So Long Astoria.

Goldfinger is another fun one in this genre, with a great cover of 99 Red Balloons.

TBH, I don't really pay a ton of attention to the lyrics, so I don't know how dated they are.
posted by hydra77 at 3:47 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I wonder if you are a candidate for FIDLAR. Discuss with your physician.
posted by credulous at 7:51 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

You might like 'Shake the Sheets' by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists? It may be more pop than what you are looking for. It's a good album for walking around the city on a sunny day.
posted by BeeJiddy at 10:46 PM on March 30, 2023 [4 favorites]

You definitely need to check out Less Than Jake.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:47 PM on March 30, 2023 [3 favorites]

at different times in my life, different New Pornographers albums and Metric albums have served as background music for some intense, long-term work sessions. Specifically, the opening strains of Mass Romantic are pegged, neurally, to the visual stimulus of the IDE I was coding in at the time. (Also pegged to the flavor of slightly burned gas station coffee for the same reason.)

Morphine never read as pop-py to me, but it fills in the background noise section of my brain too. (The band, not the drug!)

Witty wordplay that may seem a bit dated but firmly in a pop/punk context is actually the entire wikipedia page for Elvis Costello.
posted by adekllny at 6:32 AM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Some songs to check out that are similar:

Fountains of Wayne - skip Stacy's Mom, go with Denise, Radiation Vibe, Survival Car



NOFX - Whatever Didi Wants
Nerf Herder - Pantera Fans in Love
Rancid - Ruby Soho/Leicester Square /Timebomb
Samiam - You are Freaking Me Out (album) is awesome!
Tokyo Police Club - Your English is Good/ Nature of the Experiment
Envelopes - Sister in Love
Schleprock - Suburbia
Ash - A Life Less Ordinary

The Dwarves albums after like 1997 (before that they were a much ruder/luder/sometimes screamo band) - they became pop/punk later.
Song: I'm In Love with Everybody's Girl


Classic stuff would be like
The Decendents:when I get old
Buzzcocks - Everybodys' Happy Nowadays
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:54 AM on March 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

If you'd like some with lady singers:
Save Ferris - Come on Eileen
The Muffs - Kids in America
Los Campesinos - Death to Los Campesinos
early No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom album is awesome
Letters to Cleo - Here and Now
Throwing Muses - Not Too Soon
That Dog - Never Say Never
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:05 AM on March 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

You might like The Beths.

For older stuff, the Less than Jake recommendation is great. I'd also add Dance Hall Crashers.
posted by urbanlenny at 8:21 AM on March 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Marvelous Three. Butch Walker from Marv 3 produced and/or wrote several of Bowling for Soup's biggest hits. Freak of the Week was their only hit song.
posted by COD at 10:36 AM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]