We Are The In Crowd - Best Intentions
We Are The In Crowd are an exciting new female-fronted pop-punk band from New York, poised to become of the biggest names in the genre after tours with the likes of Mayday Prade and All Time Low.
Their debut album Best Intentions was released this week on Hopeless Records, and is a signal of, well, intent from the quintet.
The dual female and male vocals give their music an edge over big names like Paramore or newer acts like The Hype Theory, as it adds an extra dynamic to avoid any obvious comparisons.
The slight roughness in Jordan Eckes' voice is a nice contrast to the soaring vocals of front-woman Taylor Jardine, and it makes for an interesting album as they play off each other well.
At its best, We Are The In Crowd's music draws on pop-punk greats like The Starting Line and New Found Glory, capturing the energy and catchiness, which is always so vital in this genre.
The synth-driven intro for 'The Worst Thing About Me' arose fears that this would follow the new, All Time Low-led wave of pop-punk that has an over-reliance on over-production.
Thankfully, it was a very brief deviation from WATIC's fantastic, guitar-driven sound.
Songs like 'This Isn't Goodbye, It's BRB' and 'On Your Own' are huge tunes which make it difficult to believe that Best Intentions is the band's debut full-length.
The token ballads ('All Or Nothing' and 'You've Got It Made') is carried by typically solid vocals, although - as with most pop-punk tracks of this nature - still feels cliched.
However, in the able hands of We Are In The Crowd, these still have enough charm to lift them above the predictability.
Best Intentions will see the quintet's star rise, serving as a consistent and well-crafted debut.
Their riff-heavy style works well with their dual-vocals, giving them an edge to stand out in a pop-punk scene that a band could easily be lost in.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge