Review / 200 Words Or Less
The Wonder Years / All or Nothing
Distances

No Sleep (2009) Michael

The Wonder Years / All or Nothing – Distances cover artwork
The Wonder Years / All or Nothing – Distances — No Sleep, 2009

The glorious split 7" - how I love thee. What's this? Two bands from opposite sides of the Atlantic? Even better! There is something strangely comforting in knowing that two bands that are separated by thousands of miles of ocean can found a place together on a slim piece of wax.

The Wonder Years return with two brand new songs. Picking up where they left off on their previous 7", The Wonder Years continue to fuse upbeat pop-punk and melodic hardcore into one. They band's songwriting continues to improve, finally finding a way to incorporate those 80's snyths/keys in a fashion that isn't obnoxious. This is their best stuff to date and I feel their next full-length is the release to break things open.

All or Nothing is new to me, but sometimes new is good. These British rockers unleash two songs of fast-paced melodic hardcore in the vein of Reach the Sky, but with a bit more melody in the vocal delivery. The music is fun and the vocals are quite enamoring. Overall, this is quality music with lots of potential. Check it out if you can't wait for the new Strike Anywhere any longer...

Two young bands show signs of great things to come on this split 7". If you appreciate pop-punk or melodic hardcore you should invest in a copy of Distances.

7.5 / 10Michael • March 18, 2009

The Wonder Years / All or Nothing – Distances cover artwork
The Wonder Years / All or Nothing – Distances — No Sleep, 2009

Related news

The Wonder Years / All Or Nothing Split Pre-Orders

Posted in Records on February 4, 2009

The Wonder Years / All Or Nothing Split

Posted in Records on December 28, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

The Flyboys

Complete Flyboys 1979-1980
Frontiers Records (2026)

The archival hunt for the "missing links" of first-wave California punk usually leads through a trail of grainy handbill Xeroxes and tape traders' overdubbed copies. But with The Flyboys, the story has always been a bit more elegant—and a lot more colourful. Long before they were swept into the gravity of the Hollywood scene, frontman John Curry was already performing … Read more

Ultrabomb

The Bridges That We Burn
DC-Jam Records, Virgin (2026)

Ultrabomb just detonated. The Bridges That We Burn isn't some polite "heritage act" victory lap. It smells like a hand-rolled cigarette lit with a blowtorch in a damp Minneapolis alleyway. No reunion uranium glow here—just three lifers who’ve spent their lives in vans and aren’t interested in anything but the friction prediction. The DNA is legendary, but they aren’t coasting … Read more

Sweat

Tear it on Down
Vitriol (2026)

Tear It On Down is the third record from Sweat and it picks up where the last two left off. It's aggressive hardcore punk, but with a playful groove or swagger that really makes it feel uplifting, even when the content is not. Case in point: "Surveillance State," which rolls kind of like a call-and-response song, except that lead vocalist … Read more