From the release of their first full-length, up until The Upsides came out and every little mosh metalcore pussy pop mixed with pop-punk kid started hanging from their nuts, I was a proud fan of The Wonder Years. When I first heard this split, The Wonder Years songs sounded bland and seemed to almost bore me to death. And then I heard the All or Nothing side. What I heard when I listened to their side was a nice combination of influence-elements. The huge hardcore reminiscent guitar riff at the very start, the melodic dual vocals similar in style to the likes of Latterman or Tell All Your Friends-era Taking Back Sunday. It all fits and is a strong set of songs likely to keep you stoked on the genre. Only bummer is while the digital version comes with three All or Nothing songs, the 3rd is omitted from the vinyl. Not enough space on the wax I guess. Unfortunate, considering I like track 3 of the AoN songs more than track 2.
The Wonder Years songs from the 7" would eventually grow on me, and become my two favorite songs from their entire catalog. This is a staple in today's group of recent pop-punk records.
I pre-ordered the most limited color version of the 7", which I believe was clear with red spatter or something like that, out of something like 200. I instead received the blue version, out of 400. I was going to bitch and try to get them to swap me the color I actually ordered, but by the time the label had the records sent out, the pressing was sold out. At least I got to snag a copy at all! And the blue color would turn out rewarding, going with the tradition of being one of my favorite recent pop-punk albums, and being blue.
Specifics:
The Wonder Years / All or Nothing - Distances (clear blue) /400