The Wonder Years Band • Page 24

Oddly, I was thinking this morning about what I want out of a new TWY record. I don't want Evetts to produce it. I like NCTH but my biggest complaint about it is the fact that it's not enough of a left turn away from TGG. TGG was the logical conclusion to the sound they started chasing with Upsides, and too often, the darker take on that sound they chased with NCTH just sounds like an inferior version of TGG. I want them to go weird, take a lot of risks, try new things, and stretch their creative muscles. Evetts is obviously great and worked really well for the albums they've made together, but I really want to see TWY make a huge jump for LP5.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

I wasn't really trying to blast Evetts. NCTH and TGG are both really important albums to me. I would just like to see them mix it up a bit.

 

Yeah I want a new producer because they've gotten super stale

 

Lol they haven't gotten stale cmon now.

 

I'm sorry that was reactionary instead of questioning I just have a sore spot when it comes to this band.

They experimented a good bit on TGG and NCTH while still incorporating their trademark sound. You wouldn't hear songs like Patsy Cline, C&S, Devil, There There, Stained Glass, NCTH t/t, You In January, or Funeral from a typical band of their ilk, not to mention playing around with different tempos and structures. I'm not sure what else people want from them except to just keep pushing towards a more indie rock sound, which would be fine with me

 

I don't think they've gotten stale. NCTH suffers from bad mixing, and also from a good majority of songs trying to build up into an epic ending, but they generally don't work as well as intended. Still a good album with some interesting ideas.

 

I was gonna say something but realized it would basically be an exact copy of what ECV said earlier

 

I think they tried out quite a bit on NCTH. Mixing/production/whatever issues aside, I think they reached out relatively far compared to other bands of their like. I enjoyed most of it. Only song I didn't really enjoy much was Patsy Cline and that's because the chorus falls so flat for me, but that songs seems to hit home with a lot of people. Love this band so much and I hope to see them experiment even more with LP6.

 

Eh, just a difference of opinion I guess but to me NCTH was really half assed in its experimentation. I just want to see them move away from the whole pop punk thing, and I want to see larger leaps between records than we've been getting.

 

Dans lyrics seal the deal for NCTH for me. The themes of toxic masculinity, letting someone down, losing a friend to drug abuse, a friend who has abuse parents, the distrust of the government and the treatment of minorities as well as those with mental health issues/drug problems, those are all things that I heavily relate to.

I get that that last line makes this band incredibly subjective for me, even more-so than usual. I dont know if I've ever had a band that has written so many songs that I acutely, specifically relate to. Not in the broad sense of "yeah ive felt that way before" or "wow ive been in that situation", but note for note instances in my life (i was raised by teenage parents, i attended my great grandfathers funeral and learned that he too had struggled with depression and BPD, i had the exact same feeling Dan did my last semester of college, one of my best friends from high school died of an overdose, etc) ive often joked that the only difference is that Dan and I live in different area codes haha. It just makes this band even more special to me, and I guess that can bring out the worst in me also because I feel the need to defend this band a lot if only so that people can get the same feeling that I get: comfort, relatability, a drive to do better not just for myself but for others. Its been hard watching this site, and i dont want to get too dramatic here i recognize most of you do still vouch for this band, kind of do a 180 on them. Its not unfounded of course, and everyones entitled to their own opinion, but I guess for me it goes much deeper than that and its unfair of me to put that expectation on others.

I hope that mess of text made sense

 

This is why I'm so hooked on this band.
I get this feeling from listening to them, seeing them play a show, or talking to them, that no other band has made me feel. Hearing (as lame and cliche as it is) "it's not about forcing happiness, it's about not getting sadness win" for the first time was a pretty life changing moment for me. That mindset helped me get through high school. I started looking up. I wasn't drowning myself in some bullshit anymore. Or I was trying at least. It's been what, 6 years since I discovered this band for the very first time and I love them just as much as I did day one. I feel like I can control myself and my thoughts even when the world is telling me to fuck right off.
Sorry for the long, dumb post. It's just nice to hear from other people who also feel this way.

 

as the king of long, dumb posts I can assure that yours was not haha.

Yeah something else that has kinda given me a lot of attachment is ive actually met these guys when I used to go to Warped Tour as well as a show they played after the release of Suburbia. I spilled my guts to them and they were all super nice to me haha. Not to mention, and I swear I'm usually not one to put much weight on "I knew this band when!" kinds of people, but I remember when The Upsides leaked and being floored. I'd never heard something like that before. Its still one of those vivid memories I have, my friend posting some lyrics from the album on his FB and me going to find the leak and then being enamored with it. I had never reeeeeally listened to full albums before this aside from an exception here and there so end of 2009-all of 2010 was dominated by The Upsides for me. Its one of those memories I'll probably cherish forever

 

I have always felt that TWY deserve to be the biggest rock band in the world. Great people, great music, great message--they're an easy band to support and it's so rewarding to watch them grow.

 

NCTH is their best record probably. I don't find myself in the mood to listen to them often anymore, but when I'm in the mood for them, I tend to reach for that. I felt really alone when that record came out bc people just were really overwhelmingly negative about it.

 

I would really like to see this band make an album with Rob Cavallo, akin to the work he did with Paramore.

 

Truly some of the nicest and most genuine people ever. I've met them all a bunch after seeing them upwards of like 40 times now, and each time they've been great. Seeing them 3 days in a row on that little acoustic in-store tour they did was the coolest. They all asked how I've been and how school was going. Dan talked to me about the fantasy football league him and I were in together. Mike specifically asked me where my SO was because she is usually with me but couldn't make it to any of the in-stores. Just great people all around.

They deserve every bit of it. I love their message.

I've been reaching a ton for NCTH since it came out. I wasn't down on it when it came out, but it didn't hit me as hard immediately as the previous three albums did. Now I feel like I reach for that the most.

 

The ending of NCTH is the only thing I don't like about the album (or really anything they've done since The Upsides). The first ten songs work so well, but You in January - Palm Reader - NCTH just doesn't do anything for me. Such an anti-climatic ending after so many huge songs (Cigarettes, Bluest Things, Stained Glass Ceilings).

 

I love NCTH as a closer strictly BECAUSE it does the opposite of their other closers. It's subdued and calm and minimalist and for me, that just works so well.

 

Yeah, they've done the "big" closer enough. I like how they flipped the script on NCTH.

 

I don't necessarily think NCTH is a bad closer, it just suffers from the sequencing. The two songs before it lack the energy of the rest of the album.

 

For the longest time I questioned why they didn't end the album with Cigarettes because the end of that song is just....Wow.
After a while though I kind of enjoyed how the album starts to slow down towards the end rather than ending on a song like that or Stained Glass.

 

I can see what you mean. Comparing it to say, TDAG by Brand New, Handcuffs works as an ending (in my opinion) because it has such a high energy track (Archers) before it. I like the two tracks before it but they're kinda mid-tempo so I'd agree with you. Saying that, I don't really know what sequence I'd have it in instead.

 

I think Palm Reader and NCTH are a good one-two punch. Palm Reader continues the trend of fantastic penultimate tracks (Hoodie Weather, Cul De Sacs, and PR might be my 3 fav TWY songs) and like others have said NCTH ending on such a somber, quiet moment feels very pertinent towards the overall feeling of the record.

You In January is a nice change of pace in an album that already tries to shake things up in their core sound. Hearing Dan just gush over his now wife is very sweet and is such a nice payoff to the overall arc of TWYs albums and specifically Dans development from fresh college grad to married adult.

I've got a real long post saved of my thoughts on this "arc" throughout the 4 albums that goes into detail about the themes and specific points of development if y'all aren't sick of me pontificating lol. Trying to cut back on these long ramble indulgent posts but I can't help myself

 

Cigarettes and You in January are the only NCTH songs I think I've listened to since like the month the album came out. I do think the last three songs are probably the strongest stretch of the album.