Bowling Shoes - Factory Pop (2025) Hi-Res

Bowling Shoes welcomes you into ‘Factory Pop’ with the aptly named “Welcome to the Factory Floor.” This quick, one-and-a-half-minute intro is a breeding ground for curiosity. There’s an infectious energy throughout this quick song and intricacies sprinkled throughout that will leave you with more questions than answers, but that’s the sign of an excellent first song. It gives you a little taste of Bowling Shoes while not giving it all away, leaving you excited to see what this band has up their sleeves with this fourteen-track album.

Just like a gunshot, “Bang” changes the entire vibe, giving you a very DEVO-esque feeling and beat at the beginning before moving into something a bit more aggressive but not in the scary way. This song makes you want to move like an idiot. No other way to put it. I found myself attempting to do the robot at my desk (which I know I’m not good at at all), but it put a smile on my face as I got lost in the party atmosphere that didn’t just come from the beat, but also from the words.

This album moves ridiculously fast and, before I knew it, “Bang” was giving way to “Get Along.” A simple yet sturdy bassline kicks this song off, but quickly gives way to a glittery break that ushers in Bowling Shoes’ distinct and infectious energy. Honestly, this is the perfect workout song in more ways than one. Although it’s been a hot minute since I’ve hit the gym or even the stationary bike collecting dust in my basement, this song made me want to jump back into that world. It’s a mixture of the energy and the lyrics. The energy is self-explanatory, but the words are a bit more cryptic. Maybe it’s not about working out at all, but lines like “I’m a squid and I hate my body” and “a bit of might and brawn… A shining bill of health” had me taking this as just one epic motivational song perfect for hitting the gym.

Thanks to my coffee-induced ADHD, my mind is currently on the fact that I still need to put laundry away tonight, so it seemed only fitting that “Laundry” starts with the line, “Laundry still in the basket, I’d rather have it all.” Another super fun track with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that become increasingly cryptic as the song progresses, but by the end, you don’t remember the lyrics; you remember the fun and freeing vibe of the track. There are so many “movements” throughout this song, and you can feel something build throughout the three-and-a-half-minute-long track, but it’s a subtle build that comes to a head as the lyrics become a bit more snarky and a bit more curse-word induced.

Just when I was getting super lost in Bowling Shoes’ unique and almost hyper-pop leaning sound, they hit me with “Social Rot.” This song instantly reminded me of Azure Ray, with its style of vocals and barebones instrumentation, which both caught me off guard and made my heart flutter. This is a slow and somber song, which seems out of place thus far on the album, but offers a beautiful glimpse into the more tender side of this band.

Just when I had settled into the idea of something a bit more serious and mature from this band, they change it up again as the album moves onto “Me n My Truck.” This sixth song seems to split the difference between the playful nature of the first few songs and the maturity that came through in “Social Rot.” It’s another absolute banger with a strong beat and infectious energy, but the vocals and lyrics have a bit more of a defeated approach as if really driving the subject of this song home. For a workaholic like me, I instantly fell in love with some of the lines of this track, like “Things they’re getting pretty stressful” and “I need me a day off… my schedules skewing way off.”

You want funk? You got it in spades as the album moves onto “Gunk.” This song reminds me a bit of Passion Pit with the very dance-forward vibe, but there’s something more playful about it that, again, makes it impossible not to move around to the song. That energy continues into “You Know What I Want” (although it seems to take on a more retro hue) so perfectly, and by the time that eighth track was done, I found myself on Amazon looking up mini disco balls so I could make my desk the dance party that this album really deserves (again, thank you, ADHD).

Did Bowling Shoes have me in mind when they were writing this album? I know they didn’t, but from “Laundry” to “Big Tonsil,” the next track on this album, I couldn’t help but think about how odd it was that every song here seemed to relate to me. I’m the queen of strep throat and get it like clockwork almost every three-four months so, top hear a band sing about the nasty infectious and how much it sucks made me smile (as I frantically checked my calendar to see if I was due for a bout of strep soon which, lucky me, I am). I love how Bowling Shoes has made such a miserable illness into such an infectiously fun song. I will absolutely keep this track in my back pocket to lift my spirits when I inevitably get down with the sickness sooner rather than later (*knock on wood*).

“Pallet 13” is one of the shortest songs on this album, but I found it the most intriguing. It’s a political song (which I didn’t see coming) and has a more spoken word aspect to it, giving you a chance to not only catch the brilliant lyrics but also hear the intricacies of the instrumentation that give Bowling Shoes such a cool and intriguing sound.

“Simon” brings back that slight somber vibe that played out in “Social Rot,” but brings a more daydream-esque lushness with a muffled beat that is just as infectious as some of the more in-your-face tracks. I love how the vocals seem to make a bold dance over the more lo-fi styled instrumentation, while bubbles of sound seem to float up over all of it and pop when they reach the top. I know that sounds bizarre, but take a listen to this song, and you’ll understand what I’m trying to describe.

There are definitely a few things that make an album “complete,” and one of those things is a love song. I feel like I’ve already established that Bowling Shoes is not your standard band, so it should come as no surprise that their “love song” (at least what I perceive as their love song) on this album, “Sonia Hunny,” doesn’t read like a typical love song. Sure, it’s upbeat, light, and fluffy, but there’s this signature side of snark served up with the story of this long, and I loved it. I don’t know who Sonia is, but I feel like she and I would get along well, if only because of the lines, “She’d put my head right through the wall / She’s a rugby player with a love for Adderall.”

As this album comes to an end, Bowling Shoes still has memorable songs to leave you with their taste in your mouth forever, and one of those songs is “We Just Keep On Missing Each Other.” This song instantly reminded me of a more artistic Bleachers. The opening lick definitely feels like “Rollercoaster” from Bleachers, and the overall recording quality gave me that vibe too, but those intricacies that Bowling Shoes seems to almost hide in their sound kept this song from feeling too commercial or too Bleachers-esque. This is a fun and charming song that made my heart flutter in all of the right ways.

‘Factory Pop’ closes out with “Take Care,” a song that reminds you that, in all of the messiness of life and all of the stresses that we all face, you have to find time to take care of yourself. What a brilliant message to end this album on, because it wraps everything up so perfectly. From the subtle angst and aggression to the moments of frustration, self-doubt, and stress that are highlighted throughout this album, it was refreshing to see this band conclude with a reminder that, at the end of the day, we are all just human. We all go through things like unfolded laundry and bouts of strep-throat. We all want the “Sonia Hunny” that we may or may not get, and sometimes you just need a “Me n My Truck” kind of moment when you realize that you just need a vacation. At the end of the day, we all go through hell and back multiple times in this lifetime, and Bowling Shoes reminds you that, through it all, you really need to take a moment to just “Take Care.”

Tl;dr : ‘Factory Pop’ from Bowling Shoes is brilliant. It’s as catchy as it is deep and as artistic as it is accessible. It’s a fun album that will make you feel oddly seen and exposed, but also have you looking up cheap disco balls to make your surroundings as bright and fun as this album itself. I’m a huge fan of “dancing it out” when you have a bad day. I love getting home from work, shutting myself in my closet, and playing super fun music as I dance around like an idiot in the dark to try and push out the stress of my workday. This album will absolutely be playing the next time I have one of these moments.