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!
