Album Review: We Are The In Crowd - 'Weird Kids'

15 February 2014 | 1:57 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

The bands most mature and consolidated record to date that explores a much wider sound.

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With We Are The In Crowd's newest album, 'Weird Kids', there is a certain kind of maturity that seems to have been lacking in previous work. And it is a most welcome change.

 

Kicking off with 'Long Live the Kids' it has a distinct piano and vocal section at the start before striking off into a powerful rock song. Now to some this may seem strange but don't worry, you'll see why this song sets the feel for the later songs soon.

 

'The Best Thing' and 'Manners' pay homage to their earlier, poppier sound yet there is this certain 'tone' thought these songs. It hides in the bed of sound underlying the always amazing co-female-and-male vocal melodies. The band don't really explore this tone fully till later on.

 

Work through the emotional rock ballad (another one but it is still a very enjoyable song) of 'Come Back Home' and you'll get 'Attention'. And it's not pop punk. This is the 'tone' making it's debut into the light. This feels like contemporary rock. This song is an almost complete reversal to the Paramore-esque feel of We Are the In Crowd's early work. It's upbeat but it's crammed with a strong bass and riffs and a blasting percussion.

 

'Dreaming Out Loud' only accentuates this tone by mixing in contemporary verses but more classical and traditional rock choruses and bridges. It's definitely the best song on 'Weird Kids' with its catchiness and power that WATIC hasn't shown before now.

 

The album starts to wind down as it gets more melodic and softer with more emotional tracks making an appearance. These songs are equally solid but after that peek into a more genuine rock sound it's a little disappointing.

 

But WATIC silence the disappointment with 'Reflections'. It's a pumped up rock anthem that sends this full-length off fantastically. It takes the rock tone they've explored and grabs it by the throat and throws it into the foreground.  A very good ending indeed!

We Are the In Crowd have stopped playing around and ripping off Paramore's sound and have made their own brand that is definitely something unique nowadays. This is not so much a pop-punk album but more of a straight up rock record. It's powerful, energetic and catchy and also takes many influences from a range of artists like You Me At Six, Young Guns and Tonight Alive. 'Weird Kids' is without a doubt the band's best work to date and it will certainly bring them not just into the light, but centre stage spotlight. Clocking in at just over thirty minutes, it's a short and sweet album as opposeD to a long drawn out offering that takes days to get through,

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  1. The Best Thing (That Never Happened)
  2.  Long Live The Kids
  3. Manners
  4. Come Back Home
  5. Attention
  6. Dreaming Out Loud
  7. Remember (To Forget You)
  8. Don't You Worry
  9. Windows In Heaven
  10. Reflections