Album Review: We Are The In Crowd - Weird Kids

Weird Kids, the sophomore album from pop-punk group We Are The In Crowd, is by far their best work yet. I've always been a WATIC fan, for many reasons. I love Tay Jardine, the lead singer of the band, and the way that she and Jordan Eckes combine male/female vocals in their songs. They've been compared to a lot of bands, from Paramore to Tonight Alive, but I think with Weird Kids they proved that they're neither of these bands- they are their own band in their own right.

The lyrics to the songs on the album feel much more personal than their previous albums and EPs, perhaps why I like it so much. The opening track, "Long Live the Kids", declares that even though the band's members are all in their mid-twenties, they are still kids at heart. With Tay's somber yet powerful vocals, the chorus rings, "Hang on, be strong/long live the kids in us all". Maybe it's just because I've recently graduated high school and balk at the thought of growing up at all, but I instantly connected with the lyrics.

Tay opens up in a personal manner she hadn't on previous albums with "Windows in Heaven", a song she wrote about her late father and his passing. Again, maybe it's because I relate so heavily- my own father died when I was young- but the song will ring with anyone who's ever lost someone. She sings directly to her father, asking the questions that are so hard to wonder about anyone who's died - "If you could see me now/would you be pleased and proud?" and her own emotions about missing her dad- "I'm doing fine/sometimes I cry/when I see your face/are there windows in heaven?"  Jardine is able to put into words everything that is so hard to explain when you've lost someone.

Following the likes of many bands who have realized how much their music has impacted those around them, especially young, impressionable fans, Tay reassures those feeling lost and alone with "Don't You Worry", an upbeat, heartfelt message- "Don't you worry about a thing/You're just lost inside a scream/Don't blow it, and make your life nothing less than you could own it/make it right/nothing less than you could be/don't you worry about a thing/my sister". It may seem small, but speaking from experience, songs like Don't You Worry can be exactly what someone needs to hear.

We Are The In Crowd didn't ditch their snarky pop-punk past, however, and it's prevalent no where more than "The Best Thing (That Never Happened)". If you thought Taylor Swift was hard on her exes, you're not prepared for what Tay brings in this song. It speaks to not needing a guy, especially if it's just one holding you down. "I am never gonna settle, settle, settle/you are never gonna hold me down/so toxic, you ain't nothing but a prick/I'm the best thing that never happened to you", she and Eckes spit out. In tracks like this, Manners, and Remember (To Forget You), just to name a few, Tay shows she isn't a girl to be messed with.

We Are The In Crowd really has found their ground on this album, with personable songs, a more mature song, while not leaving behind Jardine and Eckes' traditional answering lines in their songs. This is easily one of the best albums I've heard so far in 2014. I've followed WATIC's rising from a little opener band that had a crowd of maybe 50 people on the 2012 Warped Tour to them headlining their own tour and I'm so happy for them. I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us in the years to come.

'Long Live The Kids'

'Don't You Worry'

Catch We Are The In Crowd on their upcoming tour or this summer on the Vans Warped Tour!

http://wearetheincrowd.com

Album Review : Restoring Force

Of Mice & Men is an amazing metalcore band hailing from California. I've mentioned them in a few different posts in passing, but seeing as their new album, Restoring Force, came out yesterday, I thought I'd try my hand at an album review.

Sunburns, Bruises, and Sore Throats : The Magic of Warped Tour

To an outsider- from parents to those who’d rather listen to regurgitated, remixed Top 40 hits, Vans Warped Tour, the genres of music it holds, and the entire subculture it surrounds and draws is a completely different world, and a frightening one. They listen to the songs that come from it and hear nothing but screams, growls, and words that disturb them. They wonder how anyone can stand to listen to it, let alone consider it music, and look at the subset of teenagers that do listen to it as troubled, and as trouble-makers. These people are accosted with outcries of “you just don’t understand!” from the people like us. The people who find comfort and healing in the music and the environment. And it’s true – it’s not understandable. That’s something I’ve learned to accept. There’s a quote that touched me profoundly when I heard it, and it goes “Art should disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed.” Never in my life have I heard something more applicable or more true. When an artist screams in a song, it’s not Satanic or the devil’s doing, the singer isn’t possessed by some otherworldly spirit and trying to infiltrate the young impressionable minds of the youth. No, unlike what you’ll hear on the radio today, the singer is so overwhelmed by emotion that screaming is the only thing that makes sense.

Your Memory Will Carry On : The Legacy of My Chemical Romance

I think everyone has that one band. You know the one I'm talking about. The band that means everything to you. You may have obsessions that come and go, they may not always be the band you listen to 24/7. But it's your favorite band. The term 'favorite band' doesn't even begin to cover it, really. You know everything about that band; when and where they started, their names and positions, all their little quirks. They were there for you through childhood, growing up, through good times when you rocked out in your bedroom, and through the rough times when you sat alone in the dark with your headphones, tears streaming down your face. That band, for me, was and remains to be My Chemical Romance.

Review: Top 100 Songs of 2013

Here I've combined all the parts of my reviews of the top 100 songs of 2013 according to Billboard. 

Hardcore Music and 'Suicide Cult' Rock Bands

"Don't let the world bring you down, there's always hope for the willing, don't let the world bring you down, it's not over, you're not alone anymore."

I think it's a fair enough statement to say that the above lines are 'good'- inspiring, hopeful, encouraging. I don't think there are many that would disagree with that statement. However, the band who performs these lyrics, Of Mice & Men, are a hardcore/"screamo" band. A big percentage of the general population views this type of music as depressing, and sometimes even satanic. Why is that?

The Universality of Music

I wanted to begin this post with a quote on music, something that summarized my feelings about it. I do that a lot - find quotes from others to spark my own ramblings. I simply Googled "music quotes", figuring surely that would find me a basic, essential quote to begin with. Well, I was both right and wrong. There are thousands of beautiful quotes from everyone, from philosophers to musicians to authors, even Einstein. Goodreads.com, my favorite quote search engine, turned up over 2,000 results tagged with "music", and I found myself simply unable to choose just one quote to even begin with.