We Were Just 32 And It Felt So Right
By mattneric
Greetings, loved ones. Let’s take a journey.
(1) “Awakening”
Matt: YOLOCARD
Eric: Let’s rock or maybe roll.
Matt: BOTTMZ UP 2NITE
Eric: Normally, I think songs about drinking pander to the lowest common denominator.
Matt: But I’m 16 and I like it so shut up.
Eric: But this isn’t a P!nk album, so immediately it doesn’t quite seem like seeing your best friend’s mom at a bar.
Matt: It’s more like seeing Yellowcard at a bar.
Eric: It’s like seeing your older brother’s best friends. But they still work at Zumiez. This song, actually, should be the ringtone for every 30-year-old with tattoo sleeves that still works at the mall.
Matt: Let the snark flow. But also let the record show early that I am in love with this.
Eric: We snark because we care.
Matt: IT’S A METAPHOR probably. For…. drinking.
Eric: Make no mistake: This song gets my blood flowing.
Matt: Let’s buy some Heelys.
(2) “Surface of the Sun”
Eric: “Do or do not ’cause there is no try.” Okay, Yoda.
Matt: Mmmmm.
Eric: I want to see Yellowcard play a show on Tatooine. TAUN TAUNS AND TOM TOMS.
Matt: THEN WHICH OF THE TWO SUNS WOULD THEY BE BURNING LIKE THE SURFACE OF, ERIC
Eric: This is the first sign of intelligent violin life on the album. I needed it.
Matt: SEAN
Eric: And do I note a hint of “Believe”?
Matt: Always. In every Yellowcard song. But yeah, the violin is pretty well-integrated. Present, but not forced.
Eric: Exactly.
(3) “Always Summer”
Eric: The interesting thing, for me, is that their lyrics aren’t, well, that great. They’re a little clumsy and a little trite. Which, it is a Yellowcard album. Standards must be adjusted. “It got dark, but now I think I see”?
Matt: NOT TRITE. GENUINE. STOPPIT. 16-Y-O MATT HATES U. DON’T LANA THIS ONE, ERIC.
Eric: Hold on. I was going to say that Yellowcard is not Bon Iver, so I don’t expect that type of cabin-bound, wooly introspection.
I don’t know, but white butler sure is into it.
Matt: It’s melody driven, jerkface.
Eric: It’s driven by every drum imaginable.
Matt: Thanks, Longineu!
Eric: There’s a home for battered snares somewhere, where Yellowcard’s old drum kits go to live out the rest of their lives.
Matt: If you amalgamated every Yellowcard song ever into one, it would be this one.
Eric: It’s so poppy. But not in a bad way.
(4) “Here I Am Alive”
Matt: This my favorite
Eric: Now, this is poppy.
Matt: It’s about overcoming adversity! Positive messages for everyone! Don’t listen to haters! Living well is the best revenge! Start a pop-punk band with your friends!
Eric: It’s just very radio friendly.
Matt: Well yeah. So is Yellowcard.
Eric: As a 23-year-old, I will say that this is hitting my hearthole. I haven’t grown up OR grown old either, Yellowcard.
Matt: #PGP
Eric: Let’s go get Tecates and surf or something. Also, who is this lady all up in my masculine pop punk?
Matt: Probably that Hey Monday girl.
^ I was wrong, it’s that We Are the In Crowd girl
(5) “Sleep in the Snow”
Eric: This is a Yellowcard song about snow. It is the white whale of Yellowcard songs.
Matt: IT’S A METAPHOR. For… drinking.
Eric: The violin is so subtle in this album.
Matt: Good job, Yellowcard.
Eric: Oddly, because their schtick is “Saves the Day but with violins.”
(6) “A Vicious Kind”
Matt: This is a SORRY I’M NOT SORRY song.
Eric: This is one of my favorites. I think it’s the falsetto.
Matt: FALSETTO IN THREE… TWO…
Eric: “And you lost controoooool.”
Matt: This one sounds like Long Beach. But not the Snoop Lion part.
Eric: The Gin and Juice district.
Matt: The part with all the Starbucks.
Eric: It smells like coconut there.
Matt: It’s funny to imagine Ryan Key in a Katy Perry outfit. *twirl twirl twirl*
Eric: It’s fortunate that Ryan’s voice still has so much youth in it, or else he could not sell this type of music and these lyrics.
Matt: Word. Always twentysomething
Eric: Stay gold, Ponyboy.
(7) “Telescope”
Matt: They do good with slowing it down.
Eric: Yeah, and I think this album goes slower than you’d expect. It’s nice, because slow for this band is uptempo for anyone else.
Matt: All this nostalgia is making me weep profusely. AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN HIT “TEN” YET.
Eric: If you need to take a moment to soak in the emotion, I’ll cover your shift.
Matt: The production on this album is really, really good.
Eric: Oh, definitely. It’s very polished without sounding sterile.
Matt: Word.
Eric: This album should throw some harmonies in there.
Matt: HA HA CUZ THEY HAVE A LOT
(8) “Rivertown Blues”
Matt: BANG CRASH BANG CRASH BANG CRASH PUNK PUNK PUNK
Eric: *Early Relient K drums* *or any other band from that era* *this song is also “Believe”*
Matt: This album’s working title was just “MEMORIEZ.”
Eric: I think I’m becoming progressively more 15 years old by the second.
Matt: We were twenty-three and it felt okay! Sleeping all night, staying up all daaaaaay!
Eric: Speak for yourself, daywalker.
Matt: DUAL HARMONIZING GUITARS. Pretty cool solo, for actuals. It’s good to see talent brandished unobnoxiously.
Eric: It is. It’s like a Dragonforce song up in here.
Matt: Well, you just ruined it.
Eric: Assuredly the first time that comparison has been made.
(9) “Ten”
(10) “Southern Air”
Matt: This is definitely a Yellowcard album. Current ratings:
1. Ocean Avenue
2. Paper Walls
3. When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes
4. This one
5. Lights and Sounds
6. The other one
Eric:
1. Ocean Avenue
2. The other ones
But I do like Southern Air.
Matt: Yeah okay poser.
Eric: All in all, this is a solid album. It’s not awe-inspiring, but it is fun and enjoyable and thoughtful.
Matt: And sentimental. It accomplishes its purposes exactly. I love it.
*applause*
