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.
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.
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.
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.
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 “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 has 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.
Lyrics:
Lonely Saturday night, left out by the wayside.
I got called in in the morning, talked into a double and left after 9.
Now I’m at home just me and my student loans.
Of course the battery died, I left on the dome light.
My shift was over, Kevin came to jump it. The cables caught fire.
I watched the final ounce of hope go up in a plume of smoke.I’m sick of smelling like kitchen grease,
Can’t get it out of my clothes.
I’m sick of scraping the windshield clean.
I’m sick of shoveling snow.
I’m sick of beating the sun to work—
Pale light starting to glow.
I’m sick of racing it home.Ankle’s giving me hell—swollen up and dark blue.
Fucked it up in November, too broke for the doctor, trying to make do.
I don’t feel any break there in the bone
So I’m just letting it go.Can’t see through it
No hope. Worthless.I’m buried beneath a layer of dust.
I’m out on my feet, but I’m waking back up.
I keep trying to leave, enough is enough.
I’m out on my feet, but I’m waking back up.
The brink of defeat. We’re totally fucked.
I’m out on my feet, but I’m waking back up.
Cut down at the knees, spitting out blood.
I’m off of my feet, but I’m getting back up.
