The Wonder Years - Sleeping On Trash

Speaking of The Wonder Years (that's a non sequitur), here's Sleeping On Trash. It's a compilation of non LP recordings from 2005-2010. It's got tracks from out of print EPs, splits, covers, and demos. It was a way to make a lot of their rarest recordings available in one affordable record.

It's also a good chance to talk about the old school methodology of current punk labels. You've got singles, a "hit" and another song. That's where the term "b-side" for certain tracks came from. This is what labels used to send out in press kits to radio stations, distributors, potential reviewers, etc. Next, let's say you've got 3 or 4 tracks burning a hole in your brain, but not enough time, energy, or money to flesh out a full album. That's an EP.

A split can be any size, but that's where two bands put out a record together. Basically you're only paying for half a record, while doubling your potential audience.

The point of all of this is to work with what you've got and get it out there for the least amount of money possible. The majors do it to maximize profit, but the indie/punk labels do it to give fans something affordable to buy. See, when you buy a record, maybe a dollar or less of that money made it to the actual band. That's the inherent inflation of retail, it's just reality. When it's all said and done, the cost per unit was 2 or 3 dollars, and everyone who touched it along the way deserves their fair share for touching it, so you end up in the $10 to $25 range for a full blown product. Not evil. Unnecessary, but that's real life. Indies and bands would rather give the fans what they want (more music) without paying somebody to pay somebody to get it to you, somewhere in the $5 to $15 dollar range. A functional economy doesn't need billionaires to selectively invest in failing sectors, because it's already working properly.

Blah blah bottle. Get on with it.

I like The Wonder Years because their music is good. Catchy pop-punk with hints of hardcore and metal. Lyrically, they are really unique. Their songs aren't poetry, or obtuse, or cryptic, or hyperbolic, or "statements." It's more like listening to someone reading from their personal journal: where we were, what we were doing, how it felt. If anything, this kind of writing errs on the side of hyper-specificity, but i don't mind that at all. I wasn't there, so it's totally fine if i don't know what you're talking about. This band in particular has the vibe that the lyrics could completely change every time they play it. They aren't so much songs, more like monologues. That's probably not a sentiment or reaction anyone else could have, but it's definitely a part of what makes them so enjoyable for me.

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