Reviewsic [ri-vyoo-zik] -noun: Music worth talking about

How many times past the age of 18 have most aging hipsters scoffed at the thought of listening to pop punk? Who has hung their head in shame when they remembered all the Simple Plan or New Found Glory t-shirts they owned? To those of you who have: Chin up, The Wonder Years are making pop punk cool again.

The Philly bred band released their second full-length through No Sleep Records in January, and in doing so reinstated our faith in the genre as a whole. Previously gliding somewhat under the radar, producing tunes that while good, were still relatively unremarkable in that they followed the pop punk status quo, The Wonder Years have blown us away with the growth in this album. We’re not the only ones toting these tracks- in its first week alone The Upsides sold 1852 units, climbed some charts, and received rousing amounts of praise across the board.

Twelve tracks of perfectly executed pop punk precision, sincere vocals, and thoughtful lyrics, The Upsides delivers a fist pumping, head shaking, shout-along-to-this-in-your-car feel good vibe. The intent of the album is made clear with its opening line “I’m not sad anymore/I’m just tired of this place/The weight of the world would be okay/If it would pick a shoulder to lean on/So I could stand up straight.” in ‘My Last Semester’ and from there belts out a series of honest observations about the faults their generation. That’s not to say that the boys behind The Wonder Years are pointing fingers- they fully take the blame for their own bad attitudes, but what makes them better for it is that they’re working on changing those perspectives.

With a style along the same lines as The Starting Line, Motion City Soundtrack, and Saves the Day, the Philadelphians play out as so much more than just a group of dudes- they’re a veritable powerhouse of pop punk. From the aggressive calling out of ‘This Party Sucks’ (which also has a notably killer guitar riff and quippy lyrics) and ‘Washington Square Park’ to the wild drums in ‘Dynamite Shovel’ this album is meant to unleash some frustration and just dance it off.

There is a bit of a slow down in songs like ‘It’s Never Sunny in South Philadelphia’ and ‘Hostels and Brothers’ as far as the vocals go, but when we say slow we by no means mean slow. It’s more melodic than anything, and that’s than okay by us. Especially loved is the choir of chants that takes place midway through ‘Hostels and Brothers’, a vocal style that reappears in songs like album finisher ‘All My Friends Are in Bar Bands’.

The only real diversion from the infectious riffs and kinetic energy of this album comes from ‘Hey Thanks’ where we get the same sugary pop punk vocals as before, but this time coupled with a ukulele and female backing. Short and sweet ‘Hey Thanks’ (For Jessica) is cute without giving anyone a cavity, simple throwing some appreciation for the person who puts up with our lyricist’s B.S., tying into our albums theme with the line “I’m not sad anymore and you’re to blame”. We were all about this tracks burst of energy that comes in the form of horns and its Early November circa The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path vibe.

As a whole The Upsides is an album that might take a listen or two to fully appreciate. Hidden under the playful cloak of just another bouncy pop punk band, The Wonder Years has upped the ante with this album. Fusing the elements of hardcore’s aggression, the hybridization of yelling and singing that screamo of late aims for, but misses terribly, and good old fashioned pop punk riffs, The Upsides is an album we guarantee you won’t be able to sit still for.Most notable are the lyrics and general direction of these songs, urging all of the aimless, bitter twenty-somethings to just deal and not let the world bring them down. The band puts it best in their statement about the album on their myspace, saying “…if you take one thing from this record, I hope it’s this: Don’t give those mother-fuckers an inch. Stand your ground every chance you get because everybody deserves a chance to be happy.” (The Wonder Years)

Tags: Album Review, New Release

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