The Wonder Years Band • Page 108

A perfect song. Their best. Top 5 song of the decade. And the vocal sells it brilliantly. Packed with emotion but not in the newer style way.
I recall Ian Cohen writing (paraphrasing here) that Sister Cities achieved what Cigarettes and Saints couldn't. I have no idea how somebody could think that

 

Ian Cohen has nothing but the worst opinions lol, christ

 

I do think, as wholes, that Sister Cities accomplished what they wanted to do with No Closer To Heaven

 

NCTH is held back by the mix, which is a shame as it features some of their best stuff.

 

I never really agree with 100% of what any critic says, so I don't hold it against Ian for having that (stupid) opinion.

 

to me, No Closer to Heaven is their best album and its not even close, but that's a wildly unpopular opinion. I don't even mind the production that much.

 

NCTH is my favorite from them too but SS comes really close

 

NCTH definitely has my favorite TWY songs. It is the album I return to the most from their discography for sure. Sister Cities never really clicked for me like it has for some.

 

Pretentious opinion: Cigarettes and Saints is the defining example of the "post-pop-punk" sound TWY were heading towards across No Closer to Heaven and Sister Cities

 

Suburbia is still my favourite, followed by TGG. Upsides is third purely for nostalgia, and NCTH beats Sister Cities quite easily for me.

 

I do wish NCTH had a better mix, but I really do love a bunch of the songs on there regardless.

 

Yeah I don't either, it just befuddles me. A lot of people here dislike Ian but he's done a lot to introduce this scene to the tastemaker crowds (Pitchfork etc). When TWY trilogy dropped there was absolutely no chance Pitchfork would have run a review. Now I'd be shocked if they didn't review a new album by a major band from this scene. That's not always for the best, but if it can help legitimise bands in the eyes of music consumers, festival promoters etc it is surely beneficial to these artists we love.

 

TGG checking in. Best pop-punk album of the last decade.

 

glad that people really love NCTH! It's my least favorite of theirs! I think it's amazing that a band can be so consistent that they have fans with every album as their favorite!

 

I'd love a remixed/remastered NCTH but I'm also very down for more Burst & Decay style reworks.

 

Crazy to me that some people don’t like Sister Cities. Far and away their best collection of songs.

 

Sister Cities owns but the departure in sound could be challenging to a lot of their fans, I get it. pop punk is a weird genre like that, people going outside of it always risk alienating fans, even if their music does get better.

 

Didn’t realize Sister Cities was much of a departure in their sound to some

 

Can't wait to get my hands on Burst and Decay II. Really love the songs they chose for it.

 

I preface this ranking with the fact that I absolutely adore every record in its own way. All but one was my album of the year the year it was released, and I wouldn't change that now. The sole exception being Sister Cities, which I ranked at #2 simply because Spanish Love Songs' "Schmaltz" knocked me off my feet the way The Upsides did in 2010. Still, that's more of a tie to me than anything, especially given my ranking of Sister Cities.

The Greatest Generation
Sister Cities
Suburbia: I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing
No Closer to Heaven
The Upsides

I could flip Suburbia and NCTH on any given day.

I didn't rank Get Stoked On It here because I essentially treat it the way the band does. It would be a distant #6.

 

So I’m really loving the Burst & Decay II arrangements. I don’t think anything here is as much of a change up as Washington Square Park but everything sounds amazing. I wasn’t sold on Hoodie Weather as a choice at first but I think I may listen to this version more than the original.

I think the burst of the vinyl is a little inconsistent (A side is super light, b side looks better) but I’m sure that will vary for each copy.

 

How do you feel like it stacks up to the first Burst & Decay? i'm particularly curious about I Wanted So Badly to be Brave and Cul-De-Sac. Excited to get my hands on this.

 

I think they’ve definitely perfected the burst and decay formula with this one. I wish they took more chances like they did on WSP but I think I like most of these songs more than the ones from the first volume. They sound brighter and have a little more life to them.

The B side is an amazing run. cul-de-sac is still very much a top TWY song, and while PTSD doesn’t take many chances it sounds great. It must get lonely is lovely and will surely win over some people who didn’t like the production on Sister Cities.

Hoodie Weather surprised me the most. It starts moody and just really swells by the end with the strings. I haven’t gone back to the original version very often but this one is beautiful.

With all of that said I still think You in January is my favorite burst and decay song so far.

 

This is really good.

 

Really enjoying this. I think WSP and Hoodie Weather see the biggest improvement from the originals, but everything is quite good.