ALBUM REVIEW: Songs to Listen to in a Wendy’s Parking Lot featuring Derek DiScanio of State Champs
Photo by Elissa Ebersold
“It is cohesive, thematic, and fun, successfully marrying emo music with the greasy magic of a late-night fast food burger and finely-tuned legal-approved lyrics. ”
Never before did I ever think I’d be writing about an album dropped by… checks notes... Wendy’s.
Yes. That Wendy’s.
The fast food joint.
Burgers, fries and a chocolate Frosty to dip them in Wendy’s.
But as someone whose head almost perpetually lives in clouds of marketing meteorology, when the burger joint posted yesterday on socials that “It was never a phase, album out 9.23.26” with an emo-fied famous redhead, my brain snagged. I suddenly wanted to be in the conference room with that creative team, and that want came with some major jealousy.
But I also forgot about the post, as one does when someone sees hundreds of advertisements a day; forgotten until this morning when I was scrolling my own social media again.
I first saw the artwork — green and grungy and recalling the angst of my early high school years — of a new album called Songs to Listen to in a Wendy’s Parking Lot. And then it finally clicked who posted it.
Wendy’s.
The track listing is stacked with names from the modern emo music lineup, including a familiar, local name that caught my eye — Derek DiScanio of State Champs. Intrigued by a local band’s involvement in creating an original song for a (very clearly) meticulously-crafted advertising campaign, with a giddy giggle, I threw my headphones on, already obsessed with the 22-minute marketing stunt.
Songs to Listen to in a Wendy’s Parking Lot is not like my parents’ Goodyear Presents: Christmas Favorites to Brighten Your Holiday from 1989, which is just a Goodyear-compiled collection of actual pre-existing Christmas songs. Wendy’s takes a different approach — truly commissioning artists to either write or perform songs about burgers and fries, chicken nuggets, and even the nostalgia for their sunrooms.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the album is surprisingly good. The content is cheesy (pun intended), but it takes that silliness seriously. In that way, despite its clearly commercial content, it almost listens as a cheeky concept album — and that’s how I’m choosing to approach my thoughts on it. It is cohesive, thematic, and fun, successfully marrying emo music with the greasy magic of a late-night fast food burger and finely-tuned legal-approved lyrics.
The Derek DiScanio/State Champs track titled “It’s not a Phase, It’s a 10pc” is the angsty diary entry of someone who feels misunderstood, but finds lifelong security and support in a box of 10 piece chicken nuggets, and who — no matter how old they get — will never feel deserted by the boxes of breaded poultry.
Is there profundity in these lyrics? Who am I to alchemize meaning for you from this commercial copy writing? But it’s openly and unabashedly advertising, and it’s clearly working — at least in the memorability and originality categories, important tenets for successful ad campaigns. It’s worth commending the artists who participated, and as my colleague James pointed out, it’s also worth appreciating that Wendy’s chose to use real artists instead of choosing the AI route, as so many other brands are doing.
Me, personally? Am I going out to get a square burger (fresh, never frozen) right now? No, sorry(?). Am I thoroughly enjoying this album, front to back? It certainly makes me miss the sunroom.
