We Are The In Crowd – Guaranteed To Disagree

Poughkeepsie, New York’s We Are The In Crowd are a relatively young band. Having only formed in 2009, they don’t have a lot of experience under their belts but they’ve still managed to not only get a deal with Hopeless Records but also scored a coveted spot on the entire Vans Warped Tour this year; and really it makes sense because there is something slightly charming about their poppy debut EPGuaranteed To Disagree that makes all their early recognition seem reasonable.

You see, Guaranteed To Disagree is the perfect EP to slip into the current musical trend because the best way to describe it is Paramore meets Fall Out Boy. It’s slickly-polished pop-emo that carries a slight punch and radio-friendly sheen – making it instantly catching and accessible. Leading lady Taylor Jardine has some powerfully impressive pipes – just like Paramore’s Hayley Williams (especially around the time they released  All We Know Is Falling).  Her vocals can be either incredibly catchy – like on Carry Me Home or Both Sides of the Story – or far reaching – like on electronically-tinged We Need a Break.

Unlike Paramore though, We Are The In Crowd mixes it up with Jordan Eckes coming in and offering a set of male vocals into the mix. This enables the band to use an overlapping and duelling vocal delivery that helps cement the “boy versus girl” lyrical storylines.

Speaking about lyrics, here comes the Fall Out Boy similarities again. While generally forgettable, We Are The In Crowd are able to weave the occasional turn of phrase worthy of repeating. Take the lovely “You’re not quite Satan / but I really think I hate you” couplet or the Pete Wentz-esque “You’re just a pretty face/ and you’re just a line in a song” and you can see what I mean. It’s nothing great, but enough to put a smile on your face.

That, in a nutshell, is We Are The In Crowd. Nothing great; but good enough to put a smile on your face for a few moments.  Sadly, there’s just not quite enough of a pull to keep me coming back for more again and again. Yeah, if it comes up on my iPod in shuffle I’ll let it play through but they need to find their own identity and try to escape the inevitable Paramore/Fall Out Boy comparisons.