The Wonder Years - Sister Cities (April 6, 2018) Album • Page 179

I know it's been mentioned before, but I get a ton of Thursday vibes from this. Almost all of Raining in Kyoto, as well as the bridge of Lightning especially stand out. There are plenty of little guitar parts here and there that remind me of Thursday. If you told me after the Upsides that I would one day compare TWY with Thursday, I'd be in disbelief.

 

So what do we think this does first week sales wise? Is 20-25k probably their ceiling?

 

NCTH did 22k and this is getting better reception, but that also seems very high for them

 

My max guess is 25k

 

+1 for A Song for Patsy Cline being top tier. One of my personal favorites.

Still playing SC multiple times daily. Loving this album more and more every day.

 

Patsy Cline is a great song but it’s definitely one where the lackluster mix holds it back. That chorus is so busy and it’s hard to make any individual instruments out.

 

Interview: The Wonder Years Want to Find a Home Everywhere

 

Bought a CD today. Hard to keep it together on the drive back.

 

Every time I get to the little piano break in the title track it makes me want a full-on piano version of that song.

@nicksteinborn can you make that happen?

 

I was thinking, if they were to do another Burst & Decay-style EP incorporating songs from Sister Cities, I'd love for it to be

Sister Cities
Passing Through a Screen Door
I Wanted So Badly To Be Brave
It Must Get Lonely
Me vs. the Highway
Hoodie Weather
Raining In Kyoto

 

They did an acoustic performance of Sister Cities (and Hey Julie) on Radio 104.5 in Philly last Friday. That will probably pop up on the radio station's website soon.

 

I really hope this isn't their last CD, but he is right. This is a great summation of their career so far.

 

this feels like the start of a new chapter to me if anything. TGG was the summation of their career and NCTH was a bit of a false start to a new chapter.

 

Can we get some more love for the drumming in the verses of "Heaven's Gate"?

 

That is largely how I feel Suburbia relates to The Upsides. Suburbia irons out the kinks of The Upsides and TGG sums up that time period.

I get what you mean about this feeling like a new era, but it is realistic that they won't be able to do this forever, especially if they want to start families. Don't get me wrong, I hope they have more in them. They are easily a top 5 favorite band for me.

 

They definitely can't do this forever but they're not really that old, or really even old at all, yet

 

I think the band could age very gracefully with the Burst & Decay-style sound and maybe leaning a little more into The National-esque sound on the verses of Pyramids of Salt. Excited to see where they go from here.

 

Totally, but I sympathize with Soupy's statement about it being much harder to leave for tour now and that being a major factor in the decision to continue. I imagine that played a role in MCS splitting up, though they weren't near as popular as TWY are right now.

In any case, they release a fantastic new CD and things are good right now.

 

yeah but a lot of musicians do find a way to make it work even though its hard. dustin kensrue, jim adkins, anthony green, all have families and children but their bands are some of the hardest working out there. but if they do hang it up it would be respectable to. i just think it is possible if they want it to be.

 

Absolutely, and I sincerely hope that is the case. Especially given how they are proving their aptitude for making slower music. Every musician seems to handle it differently, as for a band with 6 people in it-I am super surprised they function so well together.

 

I think they’ll become the type of band that Circa Survive or AFI are now, still relatively active but generally longer breaks between records due to balancing a family. They seem like one of the only bands from their scene that will have longevity.

Also, that article continues the trend of random Brand New name checks in TWY articles. Very odd. Almost as odd as the author calling It Must Get Lonely “alt-country”.

 

I'm really hoping sales first week will top +25K because this record deserves that type number.

When this record clicks for you it really holds on.
It's all I have listened to the past few days. #takemebacktotheorangegrove

 

I remember being 18 and thinking that I’d probably be fine if TWY broke up after the TGG cycle because they had exceeded every huge expectation I had for the second album in a row, and I just wondered where, if anywhere, they could go from there. On this record, I feel like there are so many new sonic avenues explored that I’m mainly interested in which road they’ll take next.

 

I feel this way, too. It is a mark of a great band that they can simultaneously make possibly their magnum opus, and still leave room for exploration. I remember thinking that after American Idiot, there was nowhere else to go. They couldn't possibly top it, and it felt like it could have been the cap off of a great career. Green Day only recently proved me wrong, because the 4 albums released between AI and Revolution Radio were all terrible.

 

Agreed except for the fact that 21st Century Breakdown is great, if not classic like American Idiot, but that’s a discussion for another thread