We the Kings
Somewhere Somehow

LA RECENSIONE

That the Blink 182-style emo/pop/punk has now become a genre saturated with bands and albums and no longer riding the wave was already known for a couple of years. And if on one hand there are bands that remain faithful to themselves, continuing to churn out albums of dubious quality but with the assured support of their fans (All Time Low, There For Tomorrow), on the other hand, there are other more daring (or bold, you choose) groups that have chosen a different path from their origins; some with good results (Boys Like Girls, Fall Out Boy), others less so. And here we come to We The Kings.

After a handful of decent albums and several peaks of popularity (including a successful single with Demi Lovato), it's evident that Travis Clark and his cohorts no longer know which way to go to avoid falling into oblivion, and they offer us an album (funded by fans via IndieGoGo) that, besides being released quietly, doesn't achieve the desired intent. It's not necessarily a bad work, but very predictable. An album predictable even starting from the song titles: "I Like It", "Find You There", "Say It Now", "That Feeling", "See You In My Dreams". An album predictable in the sound: the direction taken by Martin Johnson's Boys Like Girls has evidently influenced We The Kings quite a bit, who thus offer us, almost entirely, acoustic songs without even a single electric guitar riff. An album predictable in the song construction: utterly negligible lyrics, songs fully centered on accessibility and the grandeur of the chorus. An album predictable even in the ideas: "I Like It" is a semi-copy of "My Songs Know..." by Fall Out Boy, and is accompanied by lyrics so frivolous they seem to have been written by Rihanna (as shrewdly noted by a journalist from Alternative Press), granted that Rihanna can write lyrics.

Sure, there might be some great songs that emerge, see "Any Other Way" or "Art Of War", but overall We The Kings haven't made the album of their life.

Rating: 5 (out of 10)