All I've been listening to lately is the album "The Upsides" by The Wonder Years. It's officially in my top 10 favourite albums of all time.
The relevant angst expressed by them make being a teenager a little easier. All you want to do is scream their lyrics and flail around while laughing and being angry and sad and happy. It's absolute perfection.
"My Last Semester" is a brilliant opening track. "I'm not sad anymore, I'm just tired of this place" is pretty deep, and a beautiful beginning line. It's also a recurring theme. "I don't fit in with any of this, and I don't think that we're the same" once again hits a special place- there are a lot of times when kids in high school kinda struggle with it. Not to mention how great the line "no one wants to hear your sappy bullshit" is. The guitars drive the song and the drums are phenomenal. Everything about it is perfect.
"Dynamite Shovel" is just so damn catchy. His voice is beautiful and so captivating, it's also superangsty and I love that. "Rest stop in Tennessee I found where the ignorant fucks of the world meet for donuts and coffee spewing rhetoric I thought was reserved for Westboro Baptist and lunatics like that." I mean the brilliance of that and the twinge of humour makes this a total stand-out song on the album.
I freakin love "It's Never Sunny In South Philadelphia". It's one of the best songs of the entire record. "Who you see is just a shell of who I used to be- I can't believe I got this weak" is a depressing line, but everyone's allowed a sad song or two. The biggest reason I adore this tune is, "And I don't think I love anything the same way some people love Morrissey- it's just that nothing speaks to me that way." I love Moz allusions- even Brand New has one ("I'm sick of your tattoos and the way you always criticise The Smiths and Morrissey").
"This Party Sucks" has to be one of the best songs the band's ever written. "Every word that I said got drowned out by a dance remix of a pop song I don't care about" just sets the scene, paints the picture. "I can't believe I ended up here again watching this terrible band play songs I hate in the basement", too. This is the 'pissed off' tune, if you couldn't already guess. The composition of it keeps you sucked in, hooked, and obsessed. So much so, when it's over, you have to go back and listen to it again. It's flawless.
The cutest song on the album is "Hey Thanks"; it pretty much describes any good friendship or relationship. The uke and vocals in the beginning are clean and simple, quite a juxtaposition from the rest of the record. Then when they add in some horns and some new sounds, it becomes incredible. I absolutely LOVE it- this is the best song on the entire freakin' album. I can't get enough of it. Every little detail, each strum, is there for a reason and it just enhances it.
Every single tune on this album is special and fun and holds a special place in my heart- there's not one song I ever skip. The rarity of that is something I don't think I'll ever find again any time soon. They're just such a talented band and everything they do, I fall in love with.
Hey, thanks.