Review Summary: Avid followers of Yellowcard can now add another collector’s item to their repertoire.
Casual Yellowcard fans can be forgiven for not knowing the story of Big If. The side-project existed from 2008-2010 during the band’s hiatus that occurred between the release
Paper Walls and
When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes. Consisting of vocalist Ryan Key and Reeve Oliver’s Sean O’Donnell, the pair spawned a series of demos – none of which were officially released until the summer of 2024. With fourteen songs spanning just under one hour, avid followers of Yellowcard can now add another collector’s item to their repertoire.
The Demo Years sounds the part of a full-fledged album. The production is great, and the tracks sound finished. You don’t need to look any farther than the soaring, wistful melody of ‘Monster’, the earnest pleas of ‘Always Almost’ – replete with borderline gruff inflections from Key, or the insanely memorable finale in ‘Bunny and Me’. The songs are noticeably more youthful than any modern Yellowcard output, which makes sense when you take the era into consideration – as an esteemed colleague of mine said, “It’s basically like having a new YC album from 2010.” Of course, it’s prudent to remember that Sean Mackin wasn’t a part of Big If, so
The Demo Years sound a little less like a Yellowcard purist’s dream and a little more like a Yellowcard adjacent pop-punk act – but it’s a very good one at that.
The primary appeal here is undoubtedly all the “new” old material, but it’s also interesting to hear some of the songs that went on to become Yellowcard LP tracks. ‘Bug Light’ went on to become
Southern Air’s opener ‘Awakening’. ‘Whereabouts Unknown’ turned into the fan-favorite curtain call ‘Be The Young’, only with slightly altered lyrics (“All the best ones fade away / So fake a smile if you can, everyone is watching / And you’re just here to entertain”) – marking a decidedly more sour and jaded mentality than the nostalgic, uplifting rocker it managed to evolve into. Similarly, longtime listeners may be thrown for a loop at the verse change in ‘Hang You Up’, where it turns out that “I’m gonna miss you everyday” was originally intended to be “Don’t say a kind word to my face”. In many ways, these songs changed for the better – but any diehard fan will be intrigued by the original state of the demos.
For being the unfinished works of a mostly forgotten side project,
The Demo Years packs a surprisingly refreshing punch. It’s catchy, highly energetic, and delivers a heavy dose of nostalgia for anyone who grew up listening to pop-punk in the late 2000s or early 2010s. With Yellowcard – and really, all of pop-punk as a whole – once again trending, Key and O’Donnell chose the ideal time to unlock Big If’s vault.
The Demo Years is a time capsule: simply open and enjoy.
