Hopeless Records is spending this year rolling out Hopelessly Devoted To You, a singles series celebrating the label’s 30th anniversary. The latest installment comes from the great Philly emo band Sweet Pill, who made the jump from Topshelf to Hopeless last year. Another thing Sweet Pill did last year is tour with Hopeless heroes the Wonder Years, and now they’ve covered a track by their fellow Pennsylvanians. The song in question is “There, There” from the Wonder Years’ much-beloved 2013 LP The Greatest Generation. They’ve made it sound like a Sweet Pill track, and, in an unconventional twist, they’ve written a new verse for the song.
A few words on the cover from the Wonder Years’ own Dan Campbell:
If my math is right, The Wonder Years have written 108 songs in our time as a band, and “There, There” is probably the only one in the top 3 list for every single member. It’s a special song for us, and we’re so glad that it was covered by a band we love and are rooting so hard for. Sweet Pill are everything that’s right with music—innovative, DIY as fuck, passionate, and totally unafraid (I mean, to choose to write a new verse for a cover song takes guts). They took a song that’s very dear to us and made it sound amazing all over again in a new way.
And here’s a message from Sweet Pill’s Zayna Youssef:
For us, it was a no-brainer to choose to cover The Wonder Years as part of the Hopeless 30th anniversary cover compilation. The guys in The Wonder Years took us out on tour and introduced us to their incredible fan base last fall. We share so much in common, being from Philly, being diy kings, and being label mates. The guys are nothing but kind and believe in us so fiercely. For that, we are so grateful. “There, There” seemed in our wheelhouse and a good opportunity to still have our Sweet Pill sound without sacrificing the integrity of the song (even though we did get a little cheeky at the end adding a whole new bit). Seeing There, There live every night and feeling the energy of when the first chorus dropped was unmatched. Those simple yet effective lyrics, “I’m awkward and nervous” resonated with me. It spoke to me enough to want to sing it in my own way. We hope their fans and ours enjoy our little spin on a classic emo song.
Listen below.
