The Wonder Years frontman Dan Campbell doesn’t consider the band’s acoustic “Burst & Decay” series just stripped-down versions of their catalog. To him, it’s a full reimagining — a way to “highlight the emotion behind the songs” and let the lyrics breathe in a new, intimate space.
That’s exactly what the Philadelphia six-piece plans to do when they tour the latest version at Greenpoint’s iconic Warsaw this weekend — trading amps for atmosphere in a room known for its old-school charm, creaky floors and Polish roots.
“It’s cool to see how much people have connected with this version of the show,” Campbell said of the group’s 2017 string-backed performance in Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge — a similarly intimate space that inspired the latest “Burst & Decay” tour. “We bought a lot of stage props. Normally we’re just, you know, give me the guitar and let’s go. But this time we wanted something cozy, something special.”
Known for their emotionally-charged pop-punk anthems and deeply personal lyrics, The Wonder Years debuted “Burst & Decay Vol. I” in 2017 as a way to showcase their songs in a new light. “Vol. II” followed suit in February, 2020 — but its tour was cut short by COVID. Campbell hopes the shows for “Vol. III” — released Friday — can pick up where they left off, and then some.
“We want to create a show that is unforgettable,” he told Brooklyn Paper.
The band’s ‘biggest swing yet’
Campbell called the series a “playground” for the normally high-octane band.
Produced by Steve Evetts and the band’s guitarist Nick Steinborn, “Vol. III” stays true to the series’ spirit of transformation. Tracks like “Wyatt’s Song (Your Name),” a tribute to Campbell’s older son, are reworked with a lo-fi sensibility — this time using Wyatt’s in-utero heartbeat as the metronome.
“That song, the first lyric is, ‘I recorded your heartbeat. It’s 133.’ I had that recording, and I sent it to Nick and he turned my son’s in-utero heartbeat into a beat behind the song,” Campbell said. “We did this kind of lo-fi bedroom version of the song with a rubber bridge guitar — the kind of Phoebe Bridgers guitar sound.”
The track has intentionally raw elements, he said, including a distorted demo vocal captured through blown-out speakers and a rattling snare — an unrepeatable moment they decided to keep as the final take.
“That’s the one take,” Campbell recalled them saying. “That’s it.”
Since forming in 2005 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, The Wonder Years have built their music around themes of vulnerability, growth, and emotional reckoning. The band — made up of Campbell, Steinborn, Casey Cavaliere, Matt Brasch, Josh Martin and Mike Kennedy — has always had a knack for capturing the emotional chaos of adulthood.
Their lyrics often wrestle with mental health, grief, identity, and the ongoing challenge of making peace with who you were, who you are, and who you’re still becoming.
“Burst & Decay Vol. III” closes with a sweeping new version of “Doors I Painted Shut” — the opening track off their most recent studio album, “The Hum Goes On Forever” — elevated by Campbell’s powerful delivery and guitarist Steinborn’s cinematic production.
Campbell said the arrangement — which trades traditional instrumentals for haunting, vocoder-heavy vocal layers — was inspired in part by Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek,” a left-field influence that helped shape the song’s ethereal tone. The result is a bold, experimental finale he says may “puzzle” some listeners, but that he hopes pushes the “Burst & Decay” series into a new space, while staying rooted in the band’s signature sincerity.
“I think that we took some of the biggest swings we’ve taken on any of the songs and any of the reimaginings on this one,” Campbell said of the album.
And much like their live shows, “Burst & Decay Vol. III” is rooted in community. Guest appearances from Knuckle Puck’s Joe Taylor, Sweet Pill’s Zayna Youssef, and Origami Angel’s Ryland Heagy breathe new life into fan favorites, including “Came Out Swinging,” “Oldest Daughter,” and “I Don’t Like Who I Was Then.”
For the first time on a “Burst & Decay Vol. III,” fans get a new track in “Junebug” — a song about Campbell’s youngest son, Jack, and an emergency surgery he had at just about two weeks old.
“I had been working on it for a long time and I thought, I really do love this song, but it’s just not going to make sense on a Wonder Years record. It’s too ‘Burst & Decay,'” he laughed.
‘Brooklyn Boy’
That ethos — where what’s old feels new again and what’s new fits seamlessly into the fold — carries over to the tour.
“We’re doing a lot of special, interesting places,” Campbell said, noting stops at unconventional venues like The Caverns in Tennessee — “literally a cave in a national park” — and the fully seated Keswick Theatre in Philly. “Where we could, we tried to put it in places that were a little non-traditional or non-traditional for us.”
In Brooklyn, they’ll play Warsaw — a Greenpoint landmark. Housed in the Polish National Home, dating back to 1904, the venue has long served as a cultural hub for the neighborhood’s Polish-American community. Today, it’s one of the city’s most beloved indie venues, and its tagline, “Where pierogies meet punk,” is a perfect fit for The Wonder Years’ New York City stop on the tour.
For the first time, they’ll be joined by a live string section for the entire run, with musicians from Little Kruta, an all-female orchestra led by their friend Kristine.
“We want the show to feel theatrical and dramatic,” Campbell said. “We’re really excited about the stage setup. We’re really excited about the lighting setup. We’re really excited about the flow of the set list — the way the show is going to start and end and the way we can use the stage.”
Also joining them on the tour is longtime friend and “Brooklyn Boy” Kevin Devine.
“I’ve been a fan forever — he’s put on some of my favorite live shows in all kinds of rooms,” Campbell said. “He’s the kind of guy that can command a crowd in any space.”
Devine’s one-man setup fits perfectly with the intimate, emotionally charged vibe of the tour.
“If you’re going to put one guy with one guitar up before us, it has to be Kevin,” Campbell said, adding that he hopes he’ll play some of his favorites, like “Ballgame,” “Safe” and “Now: Navigate!”
But even with a dream lineup, pulling off a show of this scale comes with its challenges.
“It took literally days to make and organize [the set list],” Campbell said, citing complicated guitar switches, tuning changes, and logistical hurdles. The payoff, he hopes, will be a performance that feels immersive and intentional.
“We wanted to do something special and unique for our fans. What can you do that gives them a new experience? That shows them something you haven’t shown them before?”
At the end of the day, the series — and its shows — are a continuation of what Campbell sees as the band’s most meaningful offering: honesty, crafted into something that can help others.
“I take my personal pain, break it down into its component parts, rebuild it into a tool and hand that tool to people,” he said. “And it turns out that a lot of people have found that tool useful — and that’s a pretty special thing.”
The Wonder Years play at Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave. in Greenpoint, on Sunday, May 18, at 7 p.m.
