It’s safe to say The Wonder Years have progressed no end since their first few demos and split with Bangarang. They’ve gone from being a slightly silly pop-punk band with silly song names and a tongue-in-cheek view of life to a slightly (and I stress the word) more mature band that sound a million times better. The lyrics are still delivered in that way we’ve come to love, but everything from song structure to production is better on ‘the Upsides’ than at any point in the band’s career. Definitely the highest point the band have had.
So anyway, a quick email from the band’s manager reminded me I hadn’t reviewed this even though I’ve had it for a long, long time so here it is. The band have withdrawn the keys and tightened everything up. They now sound a bit like The Starting Line if they’d grown up when Saves The Day were through with being cool. The vocals are a lot smoother and the songs are just plain better. ‘This Party Sucks’ reminds me loads of The Starting Line covering very early Saves The Day, while ‘Dynamite Shovel’ is just a short, sharp, singalong wrapped up in just over a minute.
And the good songs keep on coming. ‘My Last Semester’ is a cracking opener, while ‘All My Friends Are In Bar Bands’, with guest appearances, is a great closer. I love ‘Washington Square Park‘ too. To sum up this record is by far their best yet. It’s better in every department, shows a lot of growth and I look forward to their return to the UK in the very near future…