Homeless Wonders

Homeless Wonders seem to be a very obscure ska/punk band from the 90s. Ray and Brandon from Teenage Bottlerocket used to be in the band, but that's about as well-known as they'll get. They appeared on a few comps, most famous of which is Ska Sucks, but aside from that, they're two albums seem to be unknown gems. Their first album, Another One of Those Days featured a horn section. Well, for their self-titled, the band dropped the horns and became what sounds like a cross between the Assorted Jellybeans, American Steel's first album, and their future music outlet.

Most of the songs are generally short, angry songs. Some of the lyrics, like the opener "I Can't Think", are very childish and immature. However, the band does possess some great musicianship, and the vocals aren't too bad. The fourth song, "Progress", is the first one over two minutes. It sounds like a Texas is the Reason influenced track. It's got the dual, strained vocals, and it's loaded with drum fills. It serves as a nice break from three fast-paced punk tracks, but right after though, the band switches back to the straightforward punk. However, it's traded off vocals, but, it sounds a little forced. The voices don't match up well. It's not bad; it just doesn't fit with their style. "Unorthodox" is one of only two songs to be over three minutes, and features a slow build-up into the bands style of heavy pop punk. It's not until about half-way through that the band's vocals actually kick-in, but it's great when they do. This is when everything fits together perfect, and creates a really powerful track that seems to outshine the others. The singing is very earnest and urgent.

The maturity couldn't last forever on the album, as the band reverts right back into the speedy, snotty punk that seems to dominate the album. It's not too bad though; the band does have a solid amount of intros that display the talent they have and their ability to play catchy music. This is especially shown on "Session 11" and "Wimpy", two instrumental tracks. "Session 11" is barely over a minute, and is more or less a taste at what's to come. "Wimpy" is an epic six minute instrumental song, complete with build-ups, outros, and more build-ups galore.

Homeless Wonders; it's a shame a band with so much talent and fun is so forgotten. The album is a nice glimpse at their punk side, with the short songs, their mature side, with "Unorthodox", and their general talent, with their instrumentals. The downside to the album is the annoying intros that plague the last half, as well as how most of the album isn't too mature. All-in-all though, Homeless Wonders is still a good album worth giving a listen to. It's a change from their ska side, and shows the gradual evolution the Carlisle brothers have into the pop punk heroes they are today
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7/10

http://www.suburbanhomerecords.com/releases/homeless-wonders-st/

There seems to be a very limited amount of physical releases, but, under 10 for a digital copy, not bad