The Wonder Years Band • Page 11

Oof, that is really too bad. I want them to use another producer just to shake up the songwriting, which I understand isn't an issue for you but as long as they're going with Evetts I dunno how much I'm gonna like their albums.

 

I could see The Wonder Years benefiting from a new producer.

 

The thing is, I used to really like this, and now I just kinda find it.... obnoxious, for lack of a better word. I'm sure my preferences have just changed and it isn't that the band is doing a worse job of it, but the self-referential lyricism really felt excessive to me on this album in particular.

 

I'm flattered!!!

 

One thing I'll say about this: I do think TWY are held to a different standard than most bands in this sense because they've long been held up as the band that's going to really break out of pop punk and do something big and different. I actually agree with you that the progression is evident from album to album, but that has a way of seeming very minimal when, each time around, I'm expecting the next transcendental, TDAG-esque release. That's more a fault of mine than the band's, I guess, but I think that's where the criticism comes from and I think I speak for more than just myself when I say I'm disappointed that TWY don't appear to be the band I once thought they would be.

 

As mentioned above, I feel like they shake up the songwriting enough as is. Like I said, they progress just fine and I don't expect them to throw in an accordion song or just a spoken word track or anything. I expect some good rock songs and some nice curveballs to round out the catalog. For me, that's enough to keep me interested in a band.

 

That said, NCTH is the first time I've really felt like the band kinda plateaued (how on earth do you spell this lol). I think TGG to NCTH is the smallest incremental progression yet and the effect is exacerbated because I feel expectations in general were higher to move beyond the pop punk sound after TGG.

 

I just think it's unfair to put that on them when they themselves have said they aren't going to do anything like that. I don't expect every band to pull a Brand New or a 1975. They're the exception, not the rule. I do think they've kind of left pop punk behind starting with Suburbia.

 

I posted this in another thread earlier, but I think NCTH is a lot better than it gets credit for. It does, however, in my opinion, suffer from 3 issues -

1. Questionable production
2. Somewhat poor sequencing; and related . . .
3. Too many songs (even though I like all of them)

Personally, I think it'd be better if it started with the title track and closed with "Brothers & Cardinals" (as one track) and cut out "Patsy Cline" and "Ernest Hemingway" (even though I like both those songs, but I'd be fine with them on a separate release).

 

I've spoken with the band and I kind of predicted this in 2013 after TGG dropped. People expected them to transcend the genre and , when I talked to Dan, he said that they don't really have plans to do that with TWY. Maybe with side projects, but, and funnily enough he mentioned Yellowcard, they want to have a model of consistency with some curveballs and different ideas thrown in here and there

 

Also the JJR situation didn't help things at all and really soured mine and many other few on the band. I've come around on that, especially now that I know the full story and know the band did everything they could with that situation, but that didn't help things at all

 

I am always way too intimidated any chance I've had to speak with Dan and I don't know why. It never happens with any other musician.

 

That's fair, and maybe it just comes down to the fact that I don't like the band enough. If I felt they were good enough at what they do, I'd probably be just fine with them tweaking the sound just a bit on every album... but I don't, so it gets stale to me. I have the same thing with Bayside, New Found Glory, etc. That being said, however, I do think my absolute favorite bands are the ones that present basically a different fully realized version of themselves each time around. JEW is the best example of this in my opinion. I don't see that from the other bands I mentioned.

 

Yeah and I get that. I do actually kind of think TWY do what do JEW, but not quite as drastically. To each their own.

This has been a nice discussion Tristan ty for being so cool you're a good friend

 

That's interesting, because I feel they're capable of doing that kind of thing and to me, NCTH literally sounds like the band holding themselves back. Up until now I'd kind of assumed they were always trying to push forward, with varying success, but this makes it sound like it's more of a conscious choice to stay consistent... which I'd argue is the wrong conscious choice. Very interesting.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I enjoy having these discussions with you too.

 

This didn't help for me either, but I think I'd started to lose interest anyway.

 

I got the massive privledge to talk to him at Warped Tour right before TGG dropped. That's when he mentioned what I said above after I asked him about progression. He was super nice and funny. But yeah, I have a feeling they're happy just being a consistent rock band that tries some different things here and there, than a band that completely reinvents the wheel every album

 

Yeah that was real bad timing. They handled it as well as they could, revenue from NCTH going to women protection organizations, Dan speaking out when he could about how toxic the scene was and how important women have been and are to the scene, stuff like that.

 

They definitely do want to push forward with the sound they have and try new things with it, but they definitely aren't going go off the deep end and make an electronic album or anything.

 

I wonder how that'll go for them. I keep feeling like they had such potential to be a staple of the scene and continuing along this path isn't going to do much in that regard, but who knows. Obviously a lot of people are still big fans of theirs.

 

id assume it would go well. Its worked for Yellowcard and Thursday, albeit Thursday have progressed a little more than TWY, so I dont see why it would go well for them. Who knows, maybe theyll change their mind and do something drastic next go around. I certainly would be opposed to it, but I love their songwriting and Dans voice so much that I dont see how I couldnt love something they do.

 

Haha, Yellowcard is a good example of a band I like that hasn't bothered me with small tweaks. They are an interesting band for me though... PW and SA alone are enough to put them in "favorite band" tier for me, and I'm also a big fan of OA and LaS, but the others... meh. I don't even listen to WYTTSY because it's just a watered down version of their best material imo, same with OftK, and you know how I feel about L&S. So even with them, I feel it's less a matter of enjoying them even in the absence of major progression and more just that their best albums are so damn good? I dunno, I'm rambling but it is a fascinating idea to me.

 

I also think Thursday progressed more over the course of their career than TWY will end up doing, but that remains to be seen.

 

yep, exactly. thats how I feel with TWY. Suburbia, TGG, and NCTH are more than enough to put them in a favorite band discussion, not to mention the albums worth of B-sides and the pretty good Upsides. Its a "dont fix what isnt broken" kind of approach and I really like it. If TWY continue to be a really solid and cathartic rock band for the next, say, 6 years or so, I'll be more than happy. Same with Every Time I Die for me. They progress JUST ENOUGH to keep me happy and interested.

It is an interesting idea and discussion though. Like, wheres the balance between progressing and retaining what made you so great in the first place?