The Wonder Years described their last album, The Greatest Generation, as “the third piece in a trilogy about growing up”. The album was tremendously successful, and the wait has been long to see what the band would produce from the last two years of touring and side-projects. The new single, ‘Cardinals’, does not disappoint.
From the soft opening verse to the fast, intense drums and punchy guitars supporting the gripping vocals of Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell, ‘Cardinals’ is both as catchy and as lyrically impressive as the three previous, revered albums. The Greatest Generation presented a matured form of pop-punk, with the easy-listening choruses combined with more confidence on guitar and melodies; ‘Cardinals’ reinforces the exceptional emotive value that Soupy achieves in so many of the band’s songs.
The perceptive lines like “caught between the lies you’ve been fed / and a war with your bloodstream” succeed in catching the attention of any music-lover, who can only admire how the band attaches a fast-paced pop-punk instrumental to such emotionally heavy lyrics so effortlessly. The desperate shouts of Soupy are somehow as harmonious and soothing as if they were whispers.
Accompanied with a powerful music video, the first single from the upcoming album complements the band’s reputation as veterans of their genre. The band have announced that their new album, No Closer To Heaven, will be released on September 4th on Hopeless Records.
Words by Ewan Marshall