The Wonder Years “Suburbia” review
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
Dan “Soupy†Campbell – Vocals
Josh martin – Bass/Vocals
Matthew Brasch – Guitar/Vocals
Casey Cavaliere – Guitar
Nick Steinborn – Keys/Guitar
Mike Kennedy – Drums
*review by Daryl BK
Coming off of the recent success of their 2010 release “The Upsides,†The Wonder Years are poised for today’s release of the long awaited follow up, “Suburbia: I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing.†Due yourself a favor, by the time you read this, Hopeless Records will have already released this gem, PICK IT UP!
Let me paint you a picture of how I review music. First, I will not hide the fact that I am an audiophile. Fidelity is not a lost art to me. I want, I need, I have to have the CD soI can blast it in my expensive stereo, to become sonically buried in my subject. This allows you complete understanding of what the band intended you to hear, it’s why they played shitty shows, slept on floors and ate 99 cent fast food for months at a time. It is this labor of love which affords them the luxury of spending hours in a cramped studio plying their craft creating what will hopefully allow them to repeat the process. I am not afraid to say that I hate MP3’s while at the same time I have a conflicting love affair with my iPod.
What does this have to do with anything? The bane of my existence is born from receiving an album of MP3’s to review, which is exactly what happened for this album.If you are sitting there mumbling under your breath “what the hell is the big deal?†then I am 100% positive you were born in the mid 90’s, who not surprisingly is the target demographic of this album. I’ll explain, ever wonder why you can fit 600 of your favorite stolen tracks on one CD in MP3 format, but only around 20 on the same CD in standard Hi Fidelity format? Well that’s because MP3’s cut out the high and low end of the sonic table to compress the file, thus losing the original sound that was meant to be heard by everyone involved in the production. Those of you that were not able to experience the jump in quality from tape cassette to digital audio will never understand what is missing from the MP3. But I must digress, that being said, on with the review.
Available NOW!!
Track Listing:
1. Came Out Swinging
2. Woke Up Older
3. Local Man Ruins Everything
4. Suburbia
5. My Life as a Pigeon
6. Summers in PA
7. I Won’t Say the Lord’s Prayer
8. Coffee Eyes
9. I’ve Given You All
10. Don’t Let Me Cave In
11. You Made Me Want to be a Saint
12. Hoodie Weather
13. And Now I’m Nothing
I bring the rant into this review because Steve Evetts is a genius. Who the hell is Steve Evetts? Let me tell you, Steve Evetts is a Producer, Engineer and Mixer whois responsible for billboard charting records from bands ranging from Every Time I Die to Saves the Day to Hatebreed to Sick of it All as well as the Underworld Original Soundtrack. Steve Evetts is also responsible for The Wonder Years’ newest album.
Why am I talking about the producer/engineer/mixer more than the band? Jeez you ask a lot of questions. Because he has taken this dime a dozen, run of the mill pop punk band and turned out a record that this jaded old idiot cannot get out of constant rotation. I don’t have a recent memory of any band doing this, and at time of writing this review, I can honestly say I have listened to the whole album about 5 times in a row.
I will not go as far as offering this as proof that you can polish a turd, because The Wonder Years are not turds. They definitely have talent and were most likely going to put out a solid release. Mr. Evetts was just able to bring every intricate little idea out into full sonic view. (Even in MP3 format).
Suburbia: I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing, was placed in my ipod, my headphones graced my ears, I pushed play and the first thing I thought was “Jesus, I’m 30 years old now and this little pop-punk band from Philly flooded my tiny brain with teenage angst.†The album kicks off with the obligatory we are going to make it on the road song “Came out Swinging†and that’s exactly what the boys do. From the opening bars to the final cut, Suburbia comes screaming out of the gates. The songs are all layered very well, married perfectly with backing gang vocals and subtle hints of a keyboard in all the right places. The Wonder Years seemed to stick with the theme mentioned in the album title, as much of the lyrical content is dedicated to home and the memories of time gone by in the place where they are obviously deeply rooted. Personal favorites included “I Won’t Say the Lord’s Prayer,†“Hoodie Weather,†“I’veGiven You All†and “Came out Swingingâ€. What am I saying? The whole album is very good. I would suggest this is an immediate purchase for your next RECORD store visit. Yes they still exist. Fuck Apple!
Be sure to catch The Wonder Years on Warped Tour!
To learn more about The Wonder Years, check out:
www.thewonderyearsband.com
www.myspace.com/thewonderyears
www.hopelessrecords.com
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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