Mmm, Mmm Good

Man has been boiling meat and veggies for about 5,000 years now, but it wasn't until some Neolithic primitive invented the spoon that we also learned to sup up the liquid with the boiled contents. A few thousand years and countless varieties of soup later, man gets the next step in the evolution of boiled cuisine — Bowling for Soup. These four crack-ups from Wichita Falls, Texas, would be pretty easy to pick on, what with their catchy harmonies, crackling guitars, and bratty punk-pop attitude. But they're just too damned fun to get mad at. Bowling for Soup is more interested in having a good time than in some abstract notion of "indie cred" or getting nominated for a Grammy. Oh wait, Soup was nominated for a Grammy. Nevermind. Still, some have mistakenly believed that the band's name is just a silly effort to elicit laughs from fans. But these guys are for real — honest-to-goodness soup connoisseurs. Frontman Jaret Reddick and guitarist Chris Burney recently offered up some of their ancient secrets, along with some of their favorite soups.

Jaret Reddick: Cream of mushroom. Because it's good with everything. It's neither soup nor cream, but you can put it on anything and it makes it better. I think you could put Life Savers in it and it'd still be good.

Chris Burney: Wisconsin cheese. This is the best of all there is — Wisconsin cheese soup. Liquid cheese. Mmm...delicious.

JR: Chicken double noodle. Chicken noodle is the old standby. More importantly, double noodle. I mean, it's double noodle. It's edgy. It's delicious and one of those things you can eat when you're sick.

CB: Tomato basil. It's a tasty combination of tomato and basil. It's a good, lasting marriage.

CB: Tom kha gai. It's a lemongrass and coconut Thai soup. It's delicious. I mean, mega-delicious.

JR: Campbell's vegetable soup. It's funny, because I don't like vegetables, but for some reason that Campbell's vegetable soup is on, man. And sometimes, it even spells a word, which is good for a chuckle when you're having your lunch.

CB: Sweet and sour. Any time you're sick or have a cold, eat some sweet-and-sour soup. It'll cheer you up much better than chicken noodle will.

CB: Chicken tortilla. Always a winner. Liquid enchiladas, basically. It's a good one if you're in the mood for something spicy to kick it up a notch.

JR: SpaghettiO's. I don't know if this qualifies as a soup, but I'm going with a can of SpaghettiO's. After all, it's canned like a soup. But that stuff's delicious, especially those little meatballs. I think they should just can those meatballs, to be honest.