Bowling for Soup “The Great Burrito Extortion Case” Release Date: Nov. 7, 2006 Jive Records www.bowlingforsoup.com Rating 2.5 out of 5

On Bowling For Soup’s ninth full-length record, “The Great Burrito Extortion Case,” the Texas pop-punkers refine their melodic, hooky sound to exude both pop sensibility and wry humor. Although the band’s sound is now happier and peppier than ever, “Case” maintains Bowling for Soup’s core aesthetic to decent results.

Not every song on the album is a winner, but almost every track offers a truly memorable melodic hook and a laugh or two. It is its ironic, self-deprecating sense of humor that redeems much of “The Great Burrito Extortion Case” from simple mediocrity. Allusions to popular culture, alienation, girls and self-pity are a dime-a-dozen in a genre built on rebellion and individualism, but Bowling for Soup masterfully uses brevity to turn mundane songs into something truly listenable.

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The album’s first single, “High School Never Ends,” mines the same territory as previous hits such as “1985” and “Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” but also manages a few scathing attacks on media coverage of insipid celebrities and social popularity. Likewise, “Val Kilmer” offers a sarcastic ode to “The Doors” star, while “I’m Gay” has far more to do with happiness than sexuality.

The band keeps the pathetic, woe-is-me, maudlin nonsense to a minimum and focuses more often on life’s simple pleasures. Singer/guitarist Jaret Reddick and company have crafted some of the peppiest rhythms and catchiest melodies on tunes such as “Epiphany,” “Luckiest Loser” and “99 Biker Friends.” This upbeat aesthetic shines through the entire album and helps make “The Great Burrito Extortion Case” largely enjoyable.

All of this cheer is sometimes hard to swallow, however. The melodies are sweet as sugar and the hooks are typically big enough to snare a whale, but the band never moves past the most basic pop formulas. Bowling for Soup never surpasses the role of a clown.

The vocal deliveries may be impossible to get out of your head, but it’s nearly impossible to remember any lyrics past choruses chalk-full of “Oooohs” and “Ohhhhs.”

“The Great Burrito Extortion Case” is fun, infectious and upbeat but never truly memorable, despite the band’s abundant humor.