The guys from Bowling for Soup must be afflicted with some crazy condition in which they must spew forth as many random references to pop culture as possible. In this fifteen-song album, for instance, they manage to fit in: David Letterman, lactose intolerance, Scorpions, Siegfried & Roy, MySpace, Alice Cooper, Baskin-Robbins, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Manson, Playboy, Brad Pitt, Miller Light, David Copperfield, Joan Jett, Val Kilmer, Mel Gibson, Top Gun, Mary-Kate Olsen, Caddyshack, JFK, Metallica, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Shaquille O'Neal, Danny Glover, David Blaine, Walker: Texas Ranger, Mike Tyson, Jack Black, Danger Danger, John Mellencamp, The A-Team, Jessica Simpson, Monster, Power Rangers, 50 Cent, bling-bling, Will Ferrel, Birkenstocks, Bill Gates, Adam Sandler, Grammy Awards, Van Halen, Reese Witherspoon, Jack and Diane, Belushi, Lance Burton, Harry Potter, Super Bowl, The Queers, Led Zeppelin, TomKat, Ric Ocasek, Steel Magnolias, Bon Jovi and Raising Arizona. They must have a very serious case, indeed.

This pop-punk band from Texas just keeps pumping out the clever capsules of Americana in dance-worthy doses such as the array of ditties available on this, their ninth album. The slickly laughable lyrics definitely pop out first and foremost and, yet, it is also obvious that Jaret Reddick, Chris Burney, Erik Chandler and Gary Wiseman actually care about the music as much as the lyrics. It is not rare for a band's entire oeuvre to seem interchangeable: each tune a near-clone of the one before it. Nothing too wrong with that. It just means that the artists have their own, recognizable sound. Bowling for Soup songs, too, can often seem to run together, and "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" is no exception. Luckily, though, the tunes are just different enough to stand apart from one another, the instrumentals and vocals are well-crafted and, even though these boys are pop culture-obsessed, the themes of each song vary just enough. In the end, even though we get a lot more of the same old Bowling for Soup, it's another pleasant cupful that satisfies just the right cravings.