There are a few things in this world that make me nostalgic for my glory days as a moody, yet helplessly romantic young teen. Among them are Warped Tour, rubber bracelets with band names printed on them, and any song from my Myspace playlist. Friday, all three came together when I saw a post celebrating the 8th anniversary of the release of the nevershoutnever! (known as Never Shout Never since the end of the Myspace era) EP, The Yippee. Memories of shrieking at the top of my lungs at the sight of Christofer Drew in a Boy Scout button down, my high school boyfriends sending me NSN lyrics in numerous attempts to win my affection and be cute, and trying to learn the ukulele so I could play “Trouble” all came rushing back to me. While anyone who was into the Warped Tour scene knew NSN, they were so much more to me and my best friend while we were navigating through the most awkward points of our lives thus far. Driving up the coast of California with this same best friend last week--while screaming the lyrics to NSN’s greatest hits--I realized how important these songs were to me then, and the relevance they have in my life now, though I hate to admit it. The first four songs I stumbled upon on Myspace, and that still find their way onto my playlists from time to time are from The Yippee because they’re still catchy and relevant. So, for the 8th anniversary of The Yippee, I am going to summarize the entire EP in eight sentences (two sentences for each tune).
“heregoesnothin”
An absolute bop that will cause you to bounce around your room every time it comes up on your playlist that is titled “2009 Warped Tour” that you listen to sometimes when you’re getting ready for work. The lyrics are extremely reminiscent of my first high school relationship because he was annoying and I was bored and naïve.
“Bigcitydreams”
Going through middle school, I always thought I would become the girl in this song when I moved out of the suburbs and headed for the big city. I think I still feel this way, and I still listen to it every time I land in NYC.
“Smelyalata”
This is a very sweet song to listen to when you’re breaking up or moving on from someone, and it will make you shake your booty when the beat drops. There’s also a line that seems like a sample from a System of a Down song which is really, super cool.
“dare4distance”
There is no argument that this is one of the best songs of 2008, as well as the best song from NSN’s discography. I listened to this song at least once a week during my freshman year when I felt like I may still have a crush on that really cute boy from high school who listened to my radio show once.
If you’ve never listened to The Yippee, then I don’t know where you were while we were all teasing our hair and shuffling our iPods between Bring Me The Horizon and nevershoutnever!. Whether you’re listening for the first time or the thousandth, there is no denying the catchiness of this EP. There’s a possibility that if you’re from the Midwest like Christofer Drew and me, you’ll relate to the lyrics even eight years later. You can still enjoy the jams even if you don’t…. and I suggest you do… no matter how lame it may seem to enjoy a band that got famous from Myspace.
