The Wonder Years - Sister Cities (April 6, 2018) Album • Page 196

They've had a couple happy/positive songs since then.

 

I'm sorry but I have to respond to the "Heaven's Gate is my least favorite/weakest song on the record" discussion.


Y'all are crazy.

 

Sister Cities, Orange Grove, and Heaven’s Gate are my bottom 3 on the album. I don’t skip them or think they’re awful, just a step lower from the rest.

 

Title track is my least favorite but it’s a fine rock song. Love the bridge with the sharp piano chords and Dans vocals carrying the melody. It’s the only song that feels like it doesn’t do anything all that different but it has just enough progression to keep it feeling fresh and not like a retread similar to how Cardinals had that little bit of post-rock in it.

I think all the other songs explore different musical ideas or at the very least have an interesting structure. Ghosts and Kyoto are in the running for the two heaviest songs the band has written, It Must Get Lonely and Orange Grove have that indie pop vibe, kinda like what Fireworks were doing on OCL. Pyramids and Lightning play around with electronics and have some more aggressive moments, Heavens Gate has a cool stop-start momentum to it and that chorus has a good dynamic of quiet and loud. Flowers, Blue, and Ocean are very atmospheric and more downbeat in their structure, they feel like the perfect extension of what they were doing on songs like C&S and TDIMB. All in all I think Dan nailed it when he said this album was a full step forward plus the quarter step they were missing from NCTH.

I got a of words written about this band, this album, and every single TWY song coming soon so I’ll expand more there I guess.

 

not gonna rehash lords prayer just gonna leave a drive by comment weeeeeeee bye

 

I love the guitars during the final chorus of Ghosts of Right Now. Fuck that song is a banger

 

"I'm gonna marry you underneath driftwood from Crescent City" sure seems happy to me.

And of course there's You in January.

 

yeah those two are the only songs really that could be put forward, and for me they have a different feeling.

If I had to pick one word or 'feeling' to describe Summers in PA it would be 'happiness', and it floods the whole song.

Whereas for those two it would be 'love' and it's a different type of feeling, ties into deeper, more emotional places than 'i am hanging with my pals, totally carefree'

 

I feel like Lord's Prayer discussion happens every other week.

 

"And Now I'm Nothing" is the best TWY song, followed by "Hoodie Weather" and several TGG songs in no particular order. not counting any SC songs yet

this album's volume is really low on Spotify and it's annoying

 

ANIN was their best closer until TOGHTHM

 

But for real though Flowers is clearly their best song, no contest

 

Yeah the volume is insanely low on Spotify which is unfortunate.

 

And Now I’m Nothing is still the best closer, I think

 

Bound 2 is pretty great, as far as closers go.

 

Uh-huh honey.

 

I keep seeing posts about how people's "least favorite" on SC is the title track, and I'm kinda shocked by that. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't listen to it beforehand, but I think it's one of my favorites on the album. Even though it's straightforward musically/structurally, I find Dan's delivery powerful and perfectly matched to the desperation of the lyrics, the layered shouts under some of the lines are fucking awesome, the main guitar line is super catchy, and I totally get why they released it as a single. Anyone feel me on this one?

 

Totally. Always love when it comes up next.

 

Hell yeah!!! When the guitars drop out and it’s just bass, drums and vocals... it’s one of my favorite parts of the record.

 

Title track is one of the best one here.

 

This would be my ranking of these songs as of now:

Kyoto
Flowers
Pyramids of Salt
Ocean
We Look Like Lightning
Ghost of Right Now
It Must Get Lonely
Heaven’s Gate
Sister Cities
When the Blue Finally Came
Orange Grove

And honestly, only the bottom 3 I find to be okay (compared to heavily enjoying the rest). I’ve come around deeply on Heaven’s Gate.

 

^ Also wanted to mention Ghost of Right Now is moving steadily up my ranking. This verse really, really paints a picture I can, unfortunately, relate to:

“The entire coast is out of water
It's turning different shades of grey
Like watching somebody you love
As they slowly waste away
And you looked skinny at my wedding
Sick of carrying the weight
Of all the doctors and all the treatments and all the reasons to be afraid.”

 

I shouldn't do this because it changes with each listen, but:

Raining in Kyoto
Ocean
Pyramids of Salt
Ghost of Right Now
Flowers Where Your Face Should Be
We Look Like Lightning
It Must Get Lonely
Heaven's Gate
When The Blue Finally Came
Orange Grove
Sister Cities

I still think they're all great though!

 

Rank Your Records: Dan "Soupy" Campbell Rates The Wonder Years' Five Albums