The Wonder Years - Sister Cities (April 6, 2018) Album • Page 205

Why when you fly? Why not when you drive?

 

The band did a live session with Pyramids of Salt, Sister Cities, and Cigarettes & Saints.
The Key Studio Sessions: The Wonder Years - The Key

 

The Wonder Years' 'Raining In Kyoto' Connects The Human Comedy

 

Love it. Song still gives me goosebumps

 

this sounds so much better than the version on Spotify

 

also that edit at 3:16 is so good

 

absolutely love the juxtaposition of philadelphia and kyoto. i love recognizing philly shots now that ive lived here for a while

 

I was just thinking that I was enjoying the mix here more than on my CD or Spotify but thought I might be crazy.

The video is really great, reminded me of Microwave's "Vomit" video!

 

https://forum.chorus.fm/posts/1003977

The Saga Continues

The struggles of distance: Sister Cities

It's been three years since we last heard from Dan as he somberly states that he'll keep moving forward despite not being closer to his idea of "Heaven". Times have changed, the political cimate has shifted significantly, loved ones have been lost, and during this time Dan married his longtime girlfriend Ali. The band are embarking on a world tour and the distance is starting to get to Dan. Thats when the bottom falls out, literally and metaphorically, as Dan receives news that his grandfather has passed away. The band has just landed in Kyoto, Japan, and the seasonal downpour has just begun with the music mimicking the sound of pouring rain and pounding winds. Dan remarks that hes taking sleeping pills, he's mentioned before he always has trouble sleeping and even napping proves to be a challenge, and that the pills soften the pain of the loss of his grandfather but because they put him to sleep so quickly and make him sleep so hard he doesnt really dream while under their effect. It's a stark contrast from when Dan filled his grandfatheres prescriptions in Dismantling Summer, getting pills for is grandad to help dull his pain as well. Dan goes to a nearby shrine where the dead are honored and their spirits are given peace, the shrines main symbol being Inari who is the god of fertility, rice, industry, and is represented as a fox holding a key in its teeth, he lights a candle for his grandfather (with Dans catholic upbringing its no surprise that the tradition of burning candles for the departed is ingrained in him, even if he isnt religious or spiritual) and sees a man also mourning a loved one. the man rings a bell and then shows Dan how to ring it, this practice is used to purify the spirit and to show respect, and Dan is struck by how, despite not speaking the same language, this older man felt a sense of communion with Dan and in a brief moment there were no boundaries between them, they were just two humans showing kindness to each other. the death of Dans grandfather is a framework for a lot of songs on the album, a small part of the many themes that run throughout the record. Pyramids Of Salt continues on with this sense of loss, Dan reflects on how difficult it was to see someone wither away and how fragile humans really are. the theme of drowning comes up again, mentioned before in Cigarettes & Saints, and this ties in to how the ocean and water plays a very big part in this album. A fairly abundant theme throughout the album is distance but also different cultures and how theyre incorporated into the bands music. Raining In Kyoto has drums that sound like a monsoon pouring down, as well as an oriental tinge in the guitar leads, coupled with references to important religious and cultural ideals that are present in Japan. Pyramids Of Salt follows this trend, while its not explicitly set in Egypt there are many reference to Egyptian mythology and landmarks, sand and Pyramids being obvious but Ivy is a major trade resource of Egypt and is used in many products that are sold (also want to give a shoutout to @nohandstoholdonto and her noticing the play on words of Ivy and I.V. thats a real good catch). In Egyptian mythology the sun was carried out of the River Nile and placed above the Earth daily, a very romantic way of describing how the sun seems to rise and fall into a body of water when looking out over the horizon. It Must Get Lonely brings us to Europe, with France, England, and Ireland getting referenced in some form or another. We start to see more obvious callbacks to previous albums, with "It must get obvious enough that I'm the one who stays" being an upturned reference back to This Party Sucks, Passing Through A Screen Door, and You In January. The idea of being lonely in isolation is referenced most explicitly in Madelyn and coincedentally enough Ireland is as well, specifically the mention of "Irish goodbyes" which is really just another phrase for ghosting or for disappearing without a trace. This lines up with the general theme of It Must Get Lonely, the idea of someone isolating themself in an attempt to get better only for things to get worse. A worn out funeral suit gets mentioned, a bleak reminder of just how many tragedies Dan has faced with funerals being explicitly mentioned in You Made Me Want To Be A Saint, Devil In My Bloodstream, and Cigarettes & Saints. Dan visits the cemetary in Monmarte Paris and notes that the Crows seem to know him by name due to how frequently he visits cemetaries and how despite being an ocean away, the cemetary in Paris and the cemetary on Palmer Street in Philadelphia arent all that different. Cigarette butts on headstones is a small callback to Cigarettes & Saints, left there as another sad reminder of friends lost. We arrive at the title track and we're set in Chile, noting The Andes being nearby, a mountain range that extends through 7 South American countires and is about 4300 miles long. Dan makes a reference to his first instict always being to run, as mentioned in Passing Through A Screen Door, and notes the hospitality he and the band experienced while in Chile, metaphorically being taken "home" by the warmth and kindness of total strangers from another country. One of the other mentions of being away from the United States is in When The Blue Finally Came where Dan and the band are near Australia near the beach south of Sydney, enjoying a day off by jumping into the water and watching the sunset. Dan is still haunted by the year of tragedy, but a wave of joy rushes over him in an oddly peaceful moment. "The Blue" is a nebulous term, the color blue has made an appearance many times throughout the catalog of TWY, be it a bicycle or depression pills or the ocean or music played on a radio, it functions as a metaphorical anchor for a lot of topics but its always present during tragedy, generally during the fallout. In between all of this, Dans life is filled with airplane rides across massive oceans to several different countries. Dan was already exasperated of spending an entire year in airports on Came Out Swinging, so now hes become even more world weary. Its during one of these flights that Dan has a sudden moment of clarity, realizing that he could die and this would be the last thing he's ever done. He notes that a pilot comes onto the overhead PA and, while Dan cant understand what the pilot is saying, he can read the faces of the other passengers and see that something is wrong. While its probably just some turbulance, its still nerve racking and Dan looks out at the beacon light on the airplanes wing and notes that if someone from the ground were to look up and see them it would look like a streak of lightning lighting up the clouds. the bridge of the song simulates the sounds of a panicked airplane crashing, clanging metal and an echoing vocal effect gives a sense of heavyness and distorted confusion that perfectly captures the moment. the bridge is filled with references to past albums, almost as if Dans entire life is flashing before his eyes with references to Everything I Own Fits In This Backpack, Came Out Swinging, And Now I'm Nothing, Woke Up Older, Passing Through A Screen Door, and I Dont Like Who I Was Then. These could be seen as the songs he wants to die to, or just significant moments in his life that come to mind if the plane were to hypothetcally crash. Dan muses that "one day the things you love are gonna put you in the ground", possibly referencing loved ones lowering you in a casket or how your vices will one day be the death of you. Oddly enough this is pretty reminiscent of a Scrubs episode, "My Mentor", where at the end J.D. starts to see all of the people who are important to him in terms of what will probably kill them one day, diagnosing himself with "probably stress" as the thing that will put him in the ground. One of the darker subplots going on throughout Sister Cities is losing a loved one to a disease, cancer to be more specific. Pyramids Of Salt, Ghosts Of Right Now, The Orange Grove, and the closing track (which we'll get to soon enough) all reference some sort of debilitating disease. In the book that came with the album it shows Dan visiting his uncles, one of which has cancer. Dan has extremely fond memories with both of them so its incredibly hard to watch one of them wither away. The political/social commentary from NCTH is carried over onto Sister Cities albeit not quite as explicitly, with Flowers Where Your Face Should Be noting the border and immigration issues as well as highlighting a homeless couple that live under the 101 in California. The Orange Grove touches on US Politics/Blue Collar America and the continuing Healthcare issues, noting that the subject of the song has to give a fake name in the emergency room to be seen. The references to past songs are still here, with the aformentioned The Orange Grove referencing Came Out Swinging with "Desparate swings in the dark" and Atom Bombs getting a mention in Heavens Gate. Finally, we arrive at the closer The Ocean Grew Hands To Hold Me. Dan is no longer willing to bargain with God, a small reference to Paper Boats poetry collection, and that its probably for the best anyways because Dan knows he wouldnt have kept up his end of the deal anyways. Dan says hes been running for a decade now and that hes "ready to go", no longer wanting someone to stay or being the one that stays but instead going forward. Dan doesnt see the world as being separated by oceans, but united by them, which may seem like an extremely simplistic way of viewing the world but its this almost youthful optimism that helps end an otherwise dark album on a bright note. Dans married now, he's happier and he's coping with the struggles of being a human and losing loved ones. He states he's now learned to lean on the people who love him, quite the stark contrast from hoping the world would find a shoulder to lean on so he could stand up straight. The ocean makes an appearance in pretty much every song on here in some form or another, further cementing the idea that the ocean unites everyone and everything.

Over the span of 5 albums and 70+ songs we've seen Dan and the band grow and develop from aimless, anxious, twentysomethings to world weary, weathered adults who have seen the best and worst that life has to offer. who knows where the ocean will take us next? i guess that isnt important, right now TWY story is laid to rest and ends on such an incredible high note. its been a joy writing this and i hope this just goes to show how much this mand truly means to me and many others. thanks for reading

 

Liked that video a lot

Excited to see them again Saturday

 

hoping to visit Japan this September so you can bet I'm going to Kyoto and jamming this.

 

I didn't know Microwave had a video for that song! Thanks for the inadvertent heads up haha

 

oh wow josh coll directed this

 

he did the sister cities video too

 

buying my tickets for the second philly show the second my direct deposit hits overnight since its not sold out yet somehow

 

This came with my vinyl book edition and I don’t have any use for it, so if anyone wants it - just message me.

 

who all will be at the show saturday

 

Saw them in Chicago on Sunday and they were great, but we didn’t get a single upsides song which bummed me out a bit. I guess they have four full records and an eps worth of material since so it’s not surprising, but just one little nostalgia-filled jam wouldn’t hurt

 

Ayyy

 

I was at the first London show for the last tour and the crowd was really good. Moshing in the right parts, crowd surfing in (mostly) the right parts, and actually pretty decent. Sang along to every song, even the ultra new ones too.

Man, in the gig I mentioned above, when they played it like 6th, the room erupted as LOADS of us suddenly made our way right to the front. It should 100% still be last, but it truly does ignite the room.

 

That song and video are SO good. I love Microwave a lot, people in here should check them out for sure.

That video is a Kyle Thrash one right? He's done some absolutely outstanding videos.

 

josh coll (formerly of foxing)

 

I was on about Vomit, but that's cool, I like another video Josh did, I think it was actually a Foxing video!

 

holy shit. saw them last night at the Crofoot in Pontiac. this is probably the 5th or 6th time I've seen them now and I can't believe how they are able to sound better and better every show. Tigers Jaw were pretty good, but I've seen better from them...maybe it was the venue since I've seen them in smaller places and they seem to fit with more intimate shows in my mind. I'm not a fan of Tiny Moving Parts, but it was cool to see people into them.

also, we got a really cool surprise at the end from them, but I'm not supposed to say what it is or @nicksteinborn might hunt me down..

 

Easily the best show I've seen them play last night.