ALBUM REVIEW: The Hum Goes On Forever – The Wonder Years
THE WONDER YEARS are a band that have long-since cast off the shackles of the often-discredited pop-punk genre from which they found their footing and have grown into something truly unique. They are a band that have not been afraid to experiment with their sound and push their boundaries as far out as possible, culminating in their sixth studio album Sister Cities back in 2018 – a record that was met with rave reviews from critics. However, it seems that the band have made a conscious effort to revert back to their more upbeat and direct style of song-writing in recent years.
Their new album The Hum Goes On Forever will not only appease the group’s longstanding and diehard fanbase but will also usher a new wave of listeners into the fold. From the first line of Doors I Painted Shut vocalist Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell demonstrates why so many people have become so endeared to the band over the years. The man is a poet. He has a way of reaching into the depths of his own soul and pulling people in and making them empathise on a level that few can.
As the album gathers pace, songs such as Wyatt’s Song (Your Name) and Oldest Daughter hark back to the earlier years of the band’s discography. They are highly emotive and written from a very personal headspace but are constructed in such a way that they are easy to connect with on a wider scale. The chorus of the latter is one of the finest that the band have penned to date and is one that will be sung back by crowds the world over for years to come.
When the sound is stripped back for Summer Clothes you get to see another dimension to the album. This is a vulnerable, biographical song that shows just how powerful an acoustic guitar and sincere songwriter can be. The contrasting track to this, however, comes in the form of Songs About Death, which is arguably one of the most adventurous songs that the boys have written in their career so far. The reverb-soaked guitars and booming, echoed drums create a haunting backdrop to the melancholic vocals and show just how far the band have come as a song-writing force over the course of their career.
The pace picks back up with one of the lead singles from the promotion of the album in Low Tide. It’s a song that sounds like it was plucked from one of the band’s early releases with its desperate yet wonderfully poetic lyrics sitting on top of a well-textured and upbeat pop-punk backdrop. Another promotional single that has been left towards the end of the release is Old Friends Like Lost Teeth. This one utilises one of the band’s secret weapons with the inclusion of deep, shouted vocals from bassist Josh Martin who teams up with guitarist/backing vocalist Matt Brasch to intertwine with Campbell and accomplish one of the most powerful moments on the whole release.
Many people say that it is always best to push forward and never look back, and in many scenarios in life this is absolutely the case. However, in the world of THE WONDER YEARS this could not be more wrong. The band seem to have rediscovered their love for the genre that birthed them. It’s just that nowadays they have picked up a number of different attributes and have thrown them into the mix as well to create an entirely different beast. The Hum Goes On Forever is the sound of a band truly enjoying what they do and reaping the rewards of just letting go and having fun and it has garnered some truly mesmerising results.
Rating: 9/10
The Hum Goes On Forever is set for release on September 23rd via Hopeless Records.
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