Okay, full disclosure: I like poppy punk. There, I said it. Goodbye last shreds of dignity and credibility. When you think about it, the words pop and punk shouldn’t really live too closely together in a sentence should they? It just seems wrong.
It’s a hit or miss genre and most of the time the diamonds are really hard to find in the rough. But every now and then a band makes a noise, they get your attention and draw you in long enough to like what you hear. Philadelphia’s “The Wonder Years” are one of those outfits and they do their thing better than most. On the group’s latest effort “Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing” they feature their razor sharp chops along with clever, snot nosed lyrics and some very memorable hooks. One thing that gives these Philly dudes a leg up on the rest of competition is the guy they have out in front on the microphone.
Vocalist Dan Campbell sings/screams his heart out on every single track to the point that you think his vocal chords might just tear apart. He’s not doing anything we haven’t heard a million times before but he does manage to deliver the lyrics like he really means it. When Campbell sings “I’m running on empty and the late nights and the long drives start to get to me, I’m just so tired” on the first track “Came Out Swinging” it comes across as heartfelt. Another plus for the band is the drumming of Mike Kennedy. If Travis Barker of Blink 182 is the gold standard in the pop punk world, Kennedy is at least in the silver bracket
The album dropped on June 14th, just a week before the first day of summer and it’s a perfect collection of songs to blast during these warm months. Take it to the beach, crank it at a party or just make your ears bleed through your headphones. This is isn’t my favorite kind of brew, but The Wonder Years did win me over in the end. If you are a fan of Rise Against, Taking Back Sunday, Against Me and even Blink 182, you should enjoy this.
