Big If Demos Hit Streaming

Hell yessss!!!!!!! This past Wednesday (July 3rd) I went on Apple Music and searched for fun and to my shocking surprise....there it was 'The Demo Years' all 12 songs in full high quality audio after 15 freakin years of being on YouTube in shit quality form. Including 2 previously unheard songs such as "Get Down" and "Whereabouts Unknown" which are great! Which means its a total of 14 bangers. "Whereabouts Unknown" is really fun because it's the precursor to what became "Be The Young" on WYTTSY.

I was drawn to Yellowcard right at the eve of the first hiatus in 08 during the turbulent Paper Walls era. As I was catching up to all the YC catalogue before PW, I was hit with this Big If project on myspace which was so fun to presence. So I've been enjoying the original 12 songs since 2009 as they released on myspace and then ripped to YouTube. What a time to be alive. I had given up on these ever releasing on streaming. I guess enough of us clamored for it on his twitch stream in recent years! I'm so happy about this. Ryan said him and Sean would officially reveal it publicly very soon, they didn't want to talk about it during the July 4th holiday. Ryan Mendez was also very involved in the production of a lot of these songs and even lending his guitar skills on some.

It's so fun that Bug Light can coexist alongside Awakening and Whereabouts Unknown coexist alongside Awakening. As well as Hide, Hang You Up, Empty Streets which went on to be Yellowcard songs. Also Monster, Bunny and Me which went on to be on Sean O'donnell's solo album 'Spirit Junkie'. The original Big If version of Bunny and Me has an extended ending build that is freakin rad.

I know I'm coming off as very biased towards the Big If project, but these songs just mean a whole lot to me and now the general public will get to enjoy them properly.

 

Pretty much this. I’ve been listening to the bad downloads ever since and it’s some of my favorite stuff ever. Bunny and me was my wedding song.

 

I’ve never heard two of these (whereabouts and get down) so color me extra excited

 

I don’t remember hearing anything about this project so I’m excited to dive into these demos.

 

I remember ripping these demos and listening on repeat during a flight to LA.

 

Spoiler alert: these demos are as good as any other Yellowcard album, and Bunny and Me is one of the best

 

Woohoo!

 

This is absolutely awesome. I love these songs and hold them very close, they were a huge part of my life when they were released. It's so amazing to finally have them on streaming.

A side note - and agreeing with the other posts in this thread - man these guys were writing some great music during this time. These songs are all so, so good.

 

Ohhh mann, please go listen to those two righttt now or as soon as you can! I love Get Down and freakin looove Whereabouts Unknown with that intro organ like sound and that delayed keyboard sound and that melody Ryan comes in with..the whole vibe is rad. As I said before it's a pleasure to have this live alongside Be The Young. These dudes were on it during that time of uncertainty in their careers. I'm just so glad these are super well made demos despite the drums being programed. It all feels real good.

Also, in general it's so awesome to see others on here have been holding on to the original 12 demos despite the crap audio quality. This release is for us faithful loyal fans and for others to finally dive in. What a time.

 

I like the sequencing too- it’s got a bit of a dude ranch style split (mostly Sean on the first half mostly Ryan on the second)
Now can we get a vinyl release!?

 

As good as a Yellowcard album?! What a treat. Where would this have fallen in their discography if it were a Yellowcard album?

 

Honestly, it’s really tough. It would have to be after WYTTSY (2011) but before SA (2012). However, SA released the following year after WYTTSY which reminds me how hard the guys were working at that time! They even put out the acoustic album later in 2011 as well. I loved the direction they took on Lift a Sail, so no way it would fall anywhere after that. So I guess as an EP before WYTTSY

 

these songs hold a special place in my heart man... I've listened to those demos so many times when YC were on their hiatus. Later it was so fun to see them incorporate those ideas in Yellocward songs. Having heard 3 versions of Hang You Up and every new one better than the last was the first time I really understood how important the role of presentation/production is in music (and how much work goes into it in the studio). The Sean O'Donnell era is still my favorite Yellowcard era, I really hope Ryan and Sean will write music together in some distant future. Songs like "You Went Gold" are top tier Ryan Key in my opinion, even up there with songs like Lift A Sail.

Edit:
Seriously, that moment when you hear Whereabouts Unknown for the first time and then the chorus of Be The Young suddenly hits...what an emotional roller coaster, haha!

 

Totally missed these when they came out. I've only listened to a few songs, but damn, this is very solid.

Ahhh I love that. I got chills when the chorus kicked in.

 

I really love the verses of this song too, something about the sound with that guitar reminds me SO much of mid-era Yellowcard.

In a way, I feel like “Whereabouts Unknown” perfectly encapsulates what I would expect them to sound like in between Paper Walls and WYTTSY, which is really cool to hear now looking back.

 

I’ve been feeling the same. I was 19 at the time when Big If was releasing songs regularly, and obviously a huge Yellowcard fan too. These songs hold a huge place in my memories of those summers right out of high school and into early college. I played them constantly.

It’s so, so cool to have these on streaming. Listening to them regularly over the past few days has really been a wild ride, and has brought me right back to so many of those awesome nights blasting these around town.