Reviews

This EP from The Wonder Years starts off with the generic pop-punk of "Mike Kennedy is a Bad Friend," which doesn't seem to suggest that this band is any different from any band that plays Bamboozle every year. The next song, "Solo & Chewy: Holdin' it Down," starts off with an excellent Ralph Wiggum quote but then goes into another generic riff, though it picks up with the introduction of guest vocals by Rachel Minton of Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer. This EP was probably just a way for the band to let off steam and it definitely shows. The songs are all incredibly short and it seems like it took about a day to do them all. The rushed effect doesn't help this at all so a word to the wise would be to take some more time next time out and see what happens.

The whole record seems to be a sort of concept about being lazy and wondering what the hell they're going to do with their lives. Unfortunately, while this is a semi-interesting idea, the fact that the EP is only 11 minutes doesn't really lend itself to the in-depth analysis of this situation. The band seems to be going through the motions of writing and recording and this EP, if anything, is just a throwaway meant to appease some people before the band start work on their next record. While this EP definitely doesn't break any new ground, it would be interesting to see what the band does on their next full-length.

Overall, this record, while it does try to separate itself from the rest of the flock, ultimately ends up sounding just like everything else. While in some cases, that may not necessarily be a bad thing, in The Wonder Years' case, it is. Some bands work with their influences and don't try to better them and that's what it ends up sounding like on this EP.