The Wonder Years and Stay Ahead of the Weather - Punk Is Dead. Get A Job.
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Record Label: Hopeless Records
We sure are getting some confusing sentiments from the punk community these days. Last year I attended the Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour. Now I’m listening to a split called Punk Is Dead. Get A Job. C’mon guys, what am I supposed to make of this?
Punk Is Dead. Get A Job. is as short as its title is blunt. There are two songs here – one new song from The Wonder Years and one new song from Stay Ahead of the Weather.
Stay Ahead of the Weather’s “No Money, Mo’ Problems” is more or less a direct continuation of the band’s We Better Get Goin’ If We’re Gonna EP. Not in the sense that “No Money” could have been on that EP or that it could be a B-side from that EP…the sound just hasn’t changed very much. Evan Thomas Weiss continues to use Stay Ahead of the Weather as one of the more promising outlets for his extravagant amount of songwriting, and the fact that SAOTW songs always utilize a full band is certainly a plus. This band may have like 100 songs less than Into It. Over It., but Stay Ahead of the Weather’s six-song catalog shouldn’t be valued any less because of its size. “It’s that same old, tired story told by millions before me,” sings Weiss on the track, “where the ending is far from happy but the characters all change.” The vocals are aggressive for the most part but that chorus is more harmonious, and the complex musicianship makes “No Money” good enough to cement the demand for a Stay Ahead of the Weather LP in the future.
The Wonder Years’ “Me vs. The Highway” is a song comprised of music and lyrics that were leftovers from the Suburbia recording sessions. Actually, calling this a leftover implies a negative connotation – shall we say, an extra? A bonus? This particular B-side has a more stripped down production for TWY fans to digest, courtesy of the fact that it was recorded by the band’s own guitarist/keyboardist Nick Steinborn. The production, which takes a second to get used to if you’ve been listening to Suburbia for the last 10 months, ends up going a long way in the allure of this song. As usual, we are subject to extremely intimate lyrics from Dan Campbell. On this song, Campbell also goes a long way to reaffirm the sentiment that his vocals have been improving markedly over time. Campbell sounds better than ever when he belts out the song’s spine-tingling bridge over clashing guitars: “Me versus the highway, and I’ll say my best years my still be ahead of me.” The Wonder Years’ best years might, in fact, still be ahead of them, as “Me vs. The Highway” is just the latest release in a pattern of ever-improving vocals, lyricism and musicianship from the band. They are undoubtedly standing alone atop their genre.
Two good bands…two good songs. Punk Is Dead. Get A Job. manages to bat a perfect 1.000 at the plate. If you missed out on one of the 1,000 copies of the 6” that sold out within a couple of hours, and will never be pressed again, don’t panic…you can listen to the songs right here on AP.net.
Solid review, solid jams. There is a thread through all of Evan's work that makes it very much his. Not a bad thing, but it comes out strong on this split.
I'll sell you mine (black/200) for a reasonable price, when it arrives. I don't see myself headed to a turntable to listen to this one lol. Lemme know if you're interested.
Oh, and I did not buy it to flip it. It was just an impulse buy.
I'll sell you mine (black/200) for a reasonable price, when it arrives. I don't see myself headed to a turntable to listen to this one lol. Lemme know if you're interested.
Oh, and I did not buy it to flip it. It was just an impulse buy.
I'd love to buy it off of you if the person you offered it to doesn't respond. I need this.
I'd love to buy it off of you if the person you offered it to doesn't respond. I need this.
I'm gonna be honest and let you know I paid a little under 12 for it altogether from MerchNow, and I'm looking to preorder a record that will cost me 18.50 after shipping. Would 20 bucks, postage included, be unreasonable? That way I have enough for the record and 1.50 for shipping the 6" to you.
Actually probably my least favorite TWY song. It was not bad but it just did not stand out as much as their other songs. I still will listen to it more and see if that changes though.
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