The Wonder Years
The Greatest Generation
Reviewed by Jessica Dooley
Returning from 2011’s Suburbia: I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing, The Wonder Years continue on with the same bravado and themes of their previous release, this time with a concept album entitled The Greatest Generation. Having grown up in the Philadelphia-suburb of Lansdale, the sextet (Dan Campbell, Matt Brasch, Casey Cavaliere, Mike Kennedy, Josh Martin and Nick Steinborn) have pulled from not only the history books but their own backyards in order to discuss the parallelism of economic collapse and war that characterized the lives of Americans prior in the World War II years and the very real present.
Being a pop-punk band, there are certain elements that are inescapable: gang vocals, the raucousness of loud, wild music; and of course, a particularly conscious approach to lyrics, either introspective or critical of social practices. The Wonder Years deliver these with precision and a sound so definitive that it will be likely for this album to land on lists for the most notable contributions to the genre.
While “There, There” is a lackluster album opener, tracks like “Dismantling the Summer”, “An American Religion”, “A Raindance in Traffic”, and “The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves” more than make up for it, whether with insightful lyrics (“It feels like 1929 and I’m on the verge of a great collapse…”; “I ended up as food for wolves for trying to take the world on…”; “If I’m in an airport and you’re in a hospital bed, well then, what kind of man does that make me?”), or powerful musicianship, The Wonder Years are hitting all the right nails on the head as their album moves from track to track. “The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves” is a headbanging adrenaline rush from start to finish, complete with Mike Kennedy cracking sticks across his drumkit harder than baseballs in the summer. Combining a perfect mix of catchiness and rowdiness, this track is the album’s star and will be sure to inspire crowds to lose their shit whenever this song is played live.
It’s rare that an album is released that is both poignant and socially or culturally relevant. But that’s what The Wonder Years have accomplished with Generation. This album is effective because it’s so well rooted in the present and the disenchantment of being a mid to late 20-something, out of work and wondering what the hell life is supposed to be at this point or when you’ll land your career job instead of bartending or acting as a barista. It also affirms the idea that this generation has been getting away from of the standard American Dream. There’s nothing great about feeling as though you have to achieve certain things and maintain status quos.
The Greatest Generation is a collection of 13 songs that will tap into your heart, kick you in the teeth and then soothe you. Ending with “I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral”, the album encapsulates every facet of youthful wanderlust and disenchantment, drawing on the experiences of failures and celebrating little else than being able to get out of a bad situation before it gets worse. Transition from the original music to reprieve with several of the album’s previous tracks (including “There, There”; ““Dismantling Summer”; “Teenage Parents”; “The Devil in My Bloodstream”), “Sell Out” gets to the heart of the matter, illustrating theme that have been communicated across the record: addiction, poverty, war, emotional collapse, failure. It dies out much the way it begins, slowly, quietly but not without a masterful core and lyrics so honest, they’re startling.
The Wonder Years create some of the most salient music of their career to date, defining their genre without letting it pigeonhole them.
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