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 Lists
07.26.23 A “The Wonder Years” Retrospective 12.07.22 Obligatory EOTY 2022 List
12.05.22 Was 2011 the Best Year For Pop-Punk?11.10.22 Bolt Thrower Ranked
03.30.22 Goth/Dark Rock Bands To Check Out12.20.21 Underrated 2021 Releases (Seriously)
05.18.21 New Releases I’m Digging08.17.20 Danzig Ranked
07.20.20 Bands You Should Listen To07.16.20 2020 Releases I’m Diggin’
07.23.19 Must Listen To Deathrock Albums07.15.19 Cool Stuff From This Year

A “The Wonder Years” Retrospective and Ranking

Looking back at the 2010’s ”Tumblr” “Sad Boi” era of Pop-Punk/Emo/Soft Grunge/Post-Hardcore, there’s so many fantastic and underrated bands like Ivy League TX, Hostage Calm, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Such Gold, etc. But the one that made the biggest impact on me, without a doubt, was The Wonder Years. I really felt like I grew up with them and they were constantly writing songs just for me and the situations and emotions I found myself sitting with. I’ve gone back and listened to all their records recently to digest them and see if I can rank them from my personal favorites to least
1The Wonder Years
Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing

This one still fires on all cylinders for me 12 years later and was my first real introduction to the band. The songs on here blend, so effortlessly, faster Early 2000’s Melodic Hardcore ideas with the powerful melodic structure and hooks of the best Pop-Punk of the decades prior. There’s not a moment out of place on this one. I can throw this on any time and listen from front to back and sing every word. This record got me through a lot at the tail end of high school and in college - I felt so strongly connected to the interweaving ideas of suburban life and the connection to Allen Ginsberg’s poem “America” that is constantly referenced and used as inspiration for the themes within.
2The Wonder Years
The Greatest Generation

The almost perfect record that, for me, signified me being in college and becoming an adult and all the feelings I was feeling at the time. I saw The Wonder Years a lot live around this time at The Firebird, at Pop’s, and at Warped Tour. The A side of this record (the first 6-7 songs) are immaculate and so impeccably sequenced in a way that really gives an ALBUM experience. The uses of The Great Depression, World War II, and general the “greatest generation” imagery, thanks to Tom Brokaw’s book of the same name, is nothing short of brilliant. The downside? The last 6 tracks are kind of spotty and don’t hold up as well to the first half of the album. Having said that, the closer is an exercise in grandiose songwriting that pays off heavily.
3The Wonder Years
No Closer to Heaven

This album contains some of TWY’s finest songwriting and sees a further love affair of fusing Indie Rock into their Pop-Punk sound. This record has a few of, what I would consider to be, The Wonder Years’ best songs in “You In January,” “Cigarettes and Saints,” and “Cardinals.” There are a lot of lyrics and musical moments that hit just as hard now for me as they did when the record dropped starting my senior year of college. There’s a few weaker tracks that don’t really do as much for me and unfortunately there’s some BAD drum production at times here and some muddy lifeless mixing that makes certain songs sit in a place where they should be hitting harder and be more powerful.
4The Wonder Years
The Upsides

The Juvenile lyrics and at times inconsistent songwriting here doesn’t always age well, but there’s a charm to it that I still can’t help but smile at. This is still a really good record even though I don’t identify with the feelings it evokes as much anymore, I can still remember when I did. This came out when I was a sophomore in high school and it sounds and feels like it. With that said, there’s some really killer songs on here like “Washington Square Park” and “Melrose Diner.” This is a fun listen when you want some snotty Pop-Punk and are feeling young and angsty.
5The Wonder Years
The Hum Goes on Forever

The newest record from the band shows explorations of some of the typical topics TWY covers but with a more mid-to late 30’s introspection and also, most importantly - fatherhood. Not being a father myself, I don’t relate to those songs as much, but man when Dan “Soupy” Campbell sings about it - I might as well have a kid. Not to mention, as I’m about to enter my 30’s, I feel the weight of these songs tenfold. This record takes a lot of the Alt Rock and Indie Rock influences that the band was starting to incorporate on “No Closer To Heaven” and fully applied on “Sister Cities” and tones them down to add them in like spices to a really great Indian Curry instead of it being the consistency of the whole sauce. This record will continue to grow on me, I’m sure. It’s really really good.
6The Wonder Years
Sister Cities

This record isn’t bad, but it really just doesn’t do much for me, at all. The band seemed to want to take it a step further in utilizing those Alt Rock and Indie Rock influences and pushing them to the forefront; which I really have no issues with at all. The issue is in the execution and remember the production issues I mentioned earlier with “No Closer To Heaven?” It somehow got 10x worse on this album. Between the songwriting not feeling entirely finished and the wilting muddy production - the album comes off as lifeless musically and Soupy sounding like a self-parody of himself. There are some decent moments on the record, but it just ultimately felt like a misstep.
7The Wonder Years
Get Stoked on It!

Look, I’ll be straight with you; this album sucks and the band hates it too. It’s not really worth your time as it doesn’t sound like The Wonder Years 90% of the time with the band not having any sort of a definitive sonic pallet; flirting with Easycore, Pop-Punk, and the use of Motion City Soundtrack-esque moog synth lines. It’s a mess of an album with pretty bad lyrics that aged like milk and unfocused childish songwriting. Skip this one, and luckily for most, it’s not currently on streaming services. Soupy said it best when they remixed/remastered the album for a reissue; "If you like the record, enjoy the new mixes. If you hate the record, I'm on your side."
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