“We were just distant stars”
If you didn’t think we would be hearing new Yellowcard music in 2023, you are in the exact same headspace as the band, to be honest.
But the truth is that life works in mysterious ways. We can say goodbye to something we love more than anything, and it can come back to view whenever we least expect it. We can cross paths with those that have given us so much unexpectedly, and it can do more for you now than you ever thought it would again.
After five years in the wilderness working on other projects and passions, it was at a reunion performance at last year’s Riot Fest that the four members of YC knew that they were right back at it again. What has followed has been life back on the road and a celebration of 2003’s classic album Ocean Avenue. But as well as looking to the past, the band have been thinking about who they are right now as well. And Childhood Eyes, five brand new tracks, explains just how much this new chapter means to them.
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The full array of what Yellowcard have been over the last 25 years is displayed here in full screaming colors. Pulling from every part of the repertoire but always making sure that it is heartfelt and honest, this 18-minute voyage packs a whole load of punch for its rapid runtime.
“Three Minutes More”, which features Pierce The Veil’s Vic Fuentes, rips and tears at you with its tale of what life in the limelight gave and took away, but how this time around may be the moment that changes everything. Whilst “Hiding In The Light” delivers Ocean Avenue-esque swells against its musings on fighting against the thing you love more than anything and how it brings out the best and worst in all of us.
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On the other hand, there is wide-eyed glee and excitement for what Yellowcard once again has in their lives. Acoustic-led “The Places We’ll Go”, featuring a spine-tingling display from Chris Carrabba, looks back over the years with love and appreciation and injects that same sentiment into whatever is to come. And the title track perfectly embodies that feeling of being 15 and creating your art for the very first time despite, you know, being more than double that age.
The juxtaposition of hope, ambition, fear, and trepidation is palpable but also essential to Childhood Eyes. This release is as much for Yellowcard as it is for fans who have always hoped this day would come again. It is the excitement and uncertainty that makes this such a compelling collection. A heart-on-sleeve flurry of fast riffs, gorgeous strings and unrelenting passion. It is everything that pop-punk should be in 2023, and it is coming from a band that helped to write the playbook all those years ago.
This is a gripping, forward-facing and emotionally potent return from a band that can do, and will do, anything they want in the future. But for now, it’s just an absolute joy to have Yellowcard back.
