The Hum Goes On Forever

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Spoiler alert though: it’s not a complete miss of a record. On the contrary, The Hum Goes On Forever is the band’s most powerful record yet, in an attempt to bring together all eras of the band under one umbrella. From the opening bars of ‘ Doors I Painted Shut’, you can most definitely feel vocalist Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell’s struggle to find his words in his music. This record is a culmination of the musician’s challenges throughout a pandemic, finding deeper purpose and ultimately, coming to terms with his new role as a father. But it’s the album’s lead singles, ‘ Summer Clothes‘ and ‘ Low Tide‘ that collectively had me most pumped for The Wonder Years‘ new era. While ‘ Summer Clothes‘ had me longing for summer sunsets with my person, what stood out as I listened to ‘ Low Tide‘ a million times over was the cathartic upbeat melody that was a big highlight on 2011’s Suburbia. With Soupy singing about the struggle to find more seratonin, the rest of the band pull together with a fine taste of an emo pop punk anthem for the ages.

As powerful and sure of itself as The Hum Goes on Forever sounds, its writing process was littered with challenges, the pandemic chief among them. The Wonder Years might run off being able to see the whites of their audience’s eyes night after night, but their creative process is founded on trust and communication stemming from a decades-long friendship. “We discovered how hard it was to write with Dan hiding in my laundry room with the door shut, and all of us with masks on,” Steinborn says. Brasch takes over: “We all keep our emotions on our faces.” Mitchell, Matt (September 22, 2022). "How the Wonder Years got older and wiser with The Hum Goes on Forever". Alternative Press . Retrieved September 23, 2022. Emerging in the mainstream pop punk era of the mid 2000s, The Wonder Years have themselves over the years grown up with and beyond the confines of their overarching parent genre.

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Their catalog’s narrative unity proceeds not only from self-reference, but from the material’s indelible proximity to Campbell’s lived experience. He’s spent nearly two decades cataloguing the ghosts that haunt his family, addiction and mental illness. “I don’t want my children growing up to be anything like me,” he once sang on “Passing Through a Screen Door,” when fatherhood was only a theoretical. “I feel like the people deserve an update,” he told me. The Philadelphia group’s three guitarists join the Zoom call in intervals. Matt Brasch, who plays a Les Paul Studio in tandem with a Kurt Cobain Jaguar, is there early, and when Cavaliere, another Les Paul Studio guy, joins a couple of minutes later the pair are obviously stoked to see each other. “Matt Brasch, long time no see!” Cavaliere says excitedly, having swapped Philly for Atlanta in 2021. Rowan5215 (September 20, 2022). "Review: The Wonder Years – The Hum Goes on Forever". Sputnikmusic . Retrieved September 27, 2022. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link) Sacher, Andrew (June 22, 2022). "The Wonder Years announce new album 'The Hum Goes On Forever,' share new song". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved September 23, 2022. a b Sacher, Andrew (September 20, 2022). "The Wonder Years on fatherhood, Mark Hoppus, and making a record that's RIYL The Wonder Years". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved September 23, 2022.

Raw emotion and unfaltering passion are The Wonder Years’ DNA. It’s why, even after decades of hard graft, they continue to impress and improve release upon release. Naturally then, ‘The Hum Goes On Forever’, is no different and can stand proud as one of the most important records of 2022. No matter which group you fall into, The Hum Goes On Forever is going to sit well with the entire pop punk community. But I’ll be honest — the last album I listened to from The Wonder Years was No Closer to Heaven, and while I did enjoy it for awhile, I didn’t feel that punch I loved from their earlier material. That’s why I’m a little nervous about going into the band’s brand new album. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect here. Would I hate it? Would I get bored? I’m definitely a listener that is more familiar with their earlier material — pre-2015. The first type of fan is the pop punk kid who uncovered some of their favourite bands today almost a decade ago, along the lines of Man Overboard, The Story So Far, State Champs and of course, The Wonder Years. You wear your pop punk heart on your sleeve, throw pizza parties with your small group of friends every weekend and probably drink way too much beer. Your go-to karaoke song is ‘ My Last Semester‘ and you’ve thrashed Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothingon your record player so much, you need more than one copy. To summarise, you’re more familiar with the band’s first two LPs than anything else.Thor’s Hammer isn’t just a curio, though. There’s a lot of gnarly stuff on The Hum Goes on Forever. Over the years, Brasch, Cavaliere and Steinborn have become dialled in to the emotional squalls of Campbell’s writing. As he has developed further as a storyteller, scratching away the pop-punk veneer to reveal lyrics that meld Craig Finn-style parables with vivid first-person writing, his bandmates have found ways to adapt, retreating to a whisper one moment before bringing out the blood and thunder the next.