The Wonder Years aren't changing popcore. They're not revolutionizing pop-punk.
That being said, Philly's The Wonder Years have just released what I can confidently call the first solid pop-punk masterpiece of 2010, an album with a succinct style, plenty of hooks, strong themes, a simplistic approach and an honest insistency that likens lead singer Dan "Soupy" Campbell to a very self-aware, contemporary Holden Caulfield. While unintentional, it serves as a nice little homage to the late Salinger, don't you think?
For The Upsides, TWY have ditched the synths (and hardcore vocals for the most part) and refined everything else, creating an extraordinarily catchy amalgam of pop-punk glory that eerily recalls one of the genre's best-known albums: The Ataris' 1999 classic Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits. Don't get me wrong; this isn't a whiny pontification about teenage heartbreak that accidentally strikes musical gold. In fact, there's a depth (amidst some whiny pontification) that owes itself to the honesty behind the lyrics.
While I'll maintain that it was an accident (until Soupy tells me otherwise), The Upsides offers two contradicting themes that almost seem literary in nature. On one hand, the phrase (and theme) "I'm not sad anymore" is reflected in the lyrics (as well as in the album's marketing strategy), but we're getting an unreliable narrator -- one who finds few moments of happiness, heavy social discomfort and, most importantly, unrelenting cynicism. My belief that the contradiction was an accident stems from other aspects of the marketing campaign, like the band's anti-FML MySpace campaign. For an album called The Upsides, there sure doesn't seem to be a lot of positive thinking going on.
The upside: you can't help but sing along.
Tracks like "Logan Circle," "New Years with Carl Weathers" and "This Party Sucks" are anthematic, fun, catchy and packed with hooks. "Hey Thanks" throws a ukulele and horns into the mix for a little variety, and "All My Friends Are in Bar Bands" adds some touching nostalgia, pulling the album full circle into "I'm not sad anymore, but..." territory. Whatever TWY set out to accomplish with The Upsides, the album stands well on its own.
I just wanted to clarify that the lyrics do offer some positive moments; another recurring theme (one I've noticed in the vast majority of TWY songs) is friendship. Through all of the lyrical awkwardness, angst and apathy, friends are there to help our quirky narrator.
My take: you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't give this album a shot. Get on it, holmes.
"In case you were wondering / I can't get comfortable in my own skin."
- The Wonder Years, "This Party Sucks"
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