(Spunge)
Live at Cockpit on Tuesday, 28th May 2002
Birmingham's Gash play a storming set of Ataris-influened punk, without songs about girls. The crowd lap it up, and they set the stage perfectly for Americans Bowling For Soup, who, although playing for too long, fill their set with brilliant pop-punk tunes and comedic between-song banter. 'The Bitch Song' and 'Belgium', a song about New Zealand, show exactly what the band like to do - play fun, disposable punk. Their ever-so-slightly overweight guitarist Chris bonds with the crowd, and they even throw in a Bryan Adams cover at the end.
Which leaves (Spunge) with a hard act to follow, something they don't do. Every song sounds exactly the same, with only 'Kicking Pigeons' really shining through. The old material sounds just like the new, and after Bowling For Soup they fall a bit flat. Plenty of enthusiasm, but nothing to grab you and make you stand up and notice. They shouldn't be headlining gigs like this just yet.