Review Summary: Suburbia, stop pushing. I know what I'm doing.
The Wonder Years have released their newest full length, Suburbia I've Given You All And Now I'm Nothing. This album is absolutely fantastic from start to finish, although there is a song or two that aren't as good as the rest in my opinion. The opening song Came Out Swinging sets the mood as Soupy belts "Moved all my *** to my parents basement, and out of our old apartment, and I know things change, but I'm not sure when" and so begins Suburbia. Came Out Swinging is an amazing opener, probably one of the best I've heard. The next two songs, Woke Up Older and Local Man Ruins Everything, keep the pace going with fast guitars and incredible drumming by Mike Kennedy. The Wonder Years have some of the best and most honest lyrics, and these two tracks prove it. Also, fans of The Upsides will notice that references to that album begin to pop up. I wont write them here, because its better to find them yourself. But they're really nice homages to their previous album
I feel I should've mentioned the fact that this album is a concept album, inspired by Ginsberg's own America. The three songs Suburbia, I've Given You All, and And Now I'm Nothing, serve as "settings" while the rest of the album functions as a timeline for the band and when the songs were written. Suburbia is the first of these to show up, as Soupy sings about his small suburbia town and the events that happened there.
The album takes a semi-breather with I Won't Recite The Lords Prayer. I can understand what Soupy is trying to say in this song. Getting bullied or scared into believing is never a good thing, nor is being ignorant and blindly believing either. I like this song, its pretty catchy and has a good message to boot. After this, Coffee Eyes kicks in. This bass and drum driven track was one of the initial three tracks to be released before the album came out ( The others being Local Man and Don't Let Me Cave In). As Soupy and the boys belt " There's always been a table for me there" I can't help but sing along. My favorite song on the album, Don't Let Me Cave In, begins with "You drove me all the way up here, cause you could tell that I was a mess, I wasn't gonna make it to dinner, I shouldn't be calling again, you drove me all the way back" then the whole band kicks it into overdrive.
As the album starts to wind down, were treated to a lightning fast homage to a friend that passed away in the form of You Made Me Want To Be A Saint. This is probably my least favorite song on the album, but its still a good song and a good tribute to a dear friend. Hoodie Weather is a great song as well, with a great beat and fantastic lyrics. The closer for the album, And Now I'm Nothing, brings everything full circle as it references the previous songs before it, and gives a real good sense of closure. As Soupy sings "I'll put my life back together in silence while writing songs on Molly's guitar, and Suburbia stop pushing, I know what I'm doing". The song comes to a close with " I know we've got miles to go but, I'm putting my shoulder to the wheel".
And that's Suburbia I've Given You All And Now I'm Nothing. A great album from start to finish that I would absolutely recommend to anybody.
track 1 and the track with a blast beat are the best.... because it has a blast beat
