Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties

Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties is the solo project of The Wonder Years frontman Dan "Soupy" Campbell. According to the project's Facebook page, it is defined as "a character study conducted through music". Campbell is taking on the persona of Aaron West. The album, We Don't Have Each Other was released in July 2014 and the EP Bittersweet was released on May 20 2016.

History

We Don't Have Each Other (2014–15)

The Wonder Years frontman Dan Campbell began the project on May 22, 2014, via a video released by Hopeless Records titled "Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties - An Introduction To Aaron West".^[1] With this project, Campbell pushed himself "to make a piece of fiction feel just as raw and personal as songs about my life".^[1] Campbell released the projects debut song, "Divorce and the American South", via The A.V. Club.^[2] "You Ain't No Saint" was released as a single on May 27.^[3] "Divorce and the American South" was released as a single on June 10.^[4] The project's first album, We Don't Have Each Other, was released on July 8 through Hopeless.^[5] The album received primarily positive reviews, with Alternative Press giving it a rating of 4.5/5.^[6] On November 19, West released a music video for the song "Our Apartment" via Billboard.^[7] Campbell performed his project on five of the 2014 Vans Warped Tour dates.^[1] On March 4, 2015, it was announced that Campbell would be performing his project on all of the 2015 Warped Tour dates, on the acoustic basement stage.^[8]

The album plays like a book. The incredible amount of detail laid out by Campbell's voice allows the listener to become fully immersed in the story. Its story follows the worst year of Aarons life, from start to finish. The album is a correlation of 9 original songs, all playing into the story, and 1 cover song, "Going to Georgia" by The Mountain Goats. Campbell is said to have added the song on to the album not because the song continued the story, but because he liked the song.

Bittersweet (2016–present)

On March 25, 2016, it was announced that an EP, titled Bittersweet, would be released on May 20.^[9] The EP's cover art and track listing was revealed, and one song on the EP, "'67, Cherry Red", was made available for streaming.^[9] The release of the EP features vinyl pressings on three different colors, Green, Blue, and Red, attributing to the songs "Green Like the G Train, Green Like Sea Foam", "Goodbye, Carolina Blues", and "'67, Cherry Red" respectively.^[10]

Style and influences

Timothy Monger of AllMusic wrote that the project "blended the passion and aggression of pop punk with more of an Americana and roots aesthetic."^[11]

On the project's Facebook page, Campbell cites Bright Eyes, The Mountain Goats, The New Amsterdams, Lucero, The Weakerthans, and Kind of Like Spitting as influences.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

References