Ten years ago, The Wonder Years were just six friends from the suburbs of Philadelphia, fresh off the release of their back-to-back breakout albums ‘The Upsides’ and ‘Suburbia, I’ve Given You All & Now I’m Nothing’. They were playing basements and sleeping on floors, growing steadily and figuring out life as a band together. Today, those two albums have taken those same friends all over the world and have influenced an entire new wave of bands in the genre. That’s because over the course of their career, The Wonder Years have consistently evolved, reaching new heights from record to record. So when it came time to commemorate the upcoming milestones of their earlier work, naturally, they found a way to challenge themselves once again.
Today, The Wonder Years share a retrospective new video for “Out On My Feet”, the second of two new songs from the band written in the style of ‘The Upsides’ and ‘Suburbia’. Using voice notes of unused riffs or scribbled down lyrics that never made their way into a song from that era, “Out On My Feet” and “Brakeless” each find the band exploring sonic territory of their past, present, and future, all at the same time.
Watch the video here:
In addition, pre-orders for their 4xLP 10-year commemorative box set are available now; this epic collection features the two albums in their entirety, one bonus/rarities LP, and one archival/demo LP. The bonus LP features b-sides and acoustic tracks, as well as the two new tracks “Brakeless” and “Out On My Feet”. The archival LP features never-before-released demos and voice notes, giving fans a special look into the making of these classic albums.
Pre-order it/stream the songs here: https://smarturl.it/UpsidesSuburbia10
But the coolest part of the box set is the 32 page booklet filled with old photos from the Upsides/Suburbia era, essays from the band about the recording/writing/touring of each album, b-sides and bonus tracks, archival demos, and the 2 new songs written for the anniversary/box set, and quotes/testimonials about the era from friends and the band’s extended team. Fans can pre-order the Galaxy Variant (limited to 1,500 units) and the Split Variant (limited to 1,000 units) at smarturl.it/UpsidesSuburbia10
Speaking on the two new songs, vocalist Dan Campbell explains the retrospective writing style:
I was going through old hard-drives full of demos and voice notes when I stumbled onto an idea I had that never got brought to the band. Listening to it ten years later inspired an idea: “What if we tried to go back and write songs that sounded like those records? What would that sound like?”
Using that voice note as a jumping-off point, the band put themselves back in that headspace, shaking loose old memories to create something that would feel at home on ‘The Upsides’. To do that, the entire team from that era was brought back to help––Steve Evetts, who produced ‘Suburbia’, agreed to produce and Vince Ratti, who produced and mixed ‘The Upsides’, came back to mix. The artwork was also done by Mitchell Wojcik, who created the original and iconic ‘The Upsides’ album cover.
And much like The Upsides found The Wonder Years and Campbell at a turning point, “Out On My Feet” and “Brakeless” came together despite the disruption of a global pandemic and a hurricane that flooded several members basements and the control room at the studio they were recording in. When the band finally came together to record, they did so in masks and face shields after temperature checks and hand sanitizer. It also obviously wasn’t safe for anyone to fly, so through some mix of technology and magic, Steve produced from his studio in Garden Grove while the band tracked at Retro City in Germantown, PA. The result are two songs that have the energy and gallows humor of their breakout records but with the experience and creativity that comes with 10+ years of touring and releasing ever-evolving music.
What The Wonder Years have done so effortlessly over the course of their career, and most recently on their last album ‘Sister Cities’, is no small feat; through poetic lyricism, ambient guitar swells, and Death Cab-levels of crashing momentum, the Philadelphia-based group truly transforms. Whereas they once sang of the plagues of growing up, they now take a massive, unexpected leap forward both sonically and thematically, now speaking confidently to the world at large.
Stream/download “Out On My Feet” and “Brakeless” here: smarturl.it/UpsidesSuburbia10
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