Less Than Jake - In With the Out Crowd
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CD Details
Artist: Less Than JakeEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-05-23
Music Label: Sire / London/Rhino
Soundtracks:
- Soundtrack Of My Life
- A Still Life Franchise
- Overrated (Everything Is)
- Fall Apart
- In-Dependence Day
- Don't Fall Asleep On The Subway
- Landmines And Landslides
- The Rest Of My Life
- Mostly Memories
- Let Her Go
- Hopeless Case
- P.S. Shock The World
Music reviews of In With the Out Crowd
Music Review: The self-proclaimed "true fans" are overrating this album... we're now "In With the Pop Crowd", a.k.a. the 14 to 16-year-olds.
Rating: 3 Stars
I don't know, guys. On track number three, I think something burst in my head and forced my arm to spasm towards the eject button. I put it on my shelf for a while, and now it's been a few months, and I listened to it again. I still think it's their worst album yet. I don't hate them for wanting to change their sound, but they didn't have to go to this extreme. Read on, though, I promise to not totally snub the album. There are a few decent songs on here. I'm not giving up on them yet, but I am a little annoyed with LTJ right now.
See, I'm 23 years old (as of September 2006). Ever since it started being cool to be "punk" (a.k.a. what MTV and Hot Topic want kids to think punk is), and Good Charlotte came around, I just had to cringe at the merger of the pop and punk genres. It's closer than ever before now, and it's really pretty sickening to listen to it. Back when I started listening to ska and punk in 2000, when the whole ska/swing craze was starting to go away for the most part, the whole pop-punk and emo scene didn't seem quite as prevalent. But now it's just out of control when it starts to invade my favorite bands. I know that's a bit selfish to say, but it's just how I feel.
It seems Warner Brothers has its tentacles around their testicles, getting them to sing things like "na-na na-na, na-na na-na" over and over again. I know Less Than Jake didn't choose to do this to us consciously. Additionally, I respect their decision to go in a different direction musically, but, Less Than Jake, come on, guys... make sure to look around yourself before you go in the WRONG direction next time, okay? No more hanging out with Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, Augustana, Coheed, and all those other wussy bands, okay?? No more hanging "out with the pop crowd." Got it? Good. The tours you did with Dropkick Murphys, however, may help your sound. I hope their sound rubbed off on you for the next album. Then I'll throw a party. Try hanging out with the Casualties as well, and the Unseen. I think I'd like Less Than Jake as a ska/street punk band. That'd be really cool to see.
That being said, I'll review each track right now for you and give it my personal rating as I listen to the CD. Your mileage may vary.
Soundtrack of my Life - 5/10 - This is a decent opener, but the things are REALLY annoying. Insert just about anything else and this song gets a 6/10. I like it a little bit. Nothing like what I expected, though. I really didn't expect this level of bubblegum pop to find its way into the band.
A Still Life Franchise - 7/10 - This sounds like it really could have been on Anthem. I wouldn't have complained too much. It's a decent song, with ska guitar. Could use some more verses instead of the choruses in the lyrics (this nets at least a -2 from me, it's SO repetitive), but the "woah-ohs" don't sound as forced as on the first track; they sound good like the old ones.
Overrated - 1/10 - This automatically gets an automatic skip in my CD player. If you ever hear it, you'll know why. It sounds like some horrible Good Charlotte song or something you can find on MTV. It gets a 1 because it's not actual pop.. or is it? Damn, I can't tell now.
Fall Apart - 3/10 - This one isn't much better as an antidote to Overrated. I almost want to skip it. It kind of sounds like whiny emo music until the bridge to the chorus and the quasi-guitar-solo kinda thing. Sounds a bit too clunky and slow for my liking. I just don't like this kind of pop/indie/emo/rock/whatever vocals. I don't even know what that singing style is supposed to be called anymore, and I don't think this song will grow on me in the least.
In-Dependence Day - 5/10 - At least this one is pretty fast, but the lyrics are just too "la-la-la" for me. At this point in the album, I really start to get annoyed at the background vocals sounding so polished and childlike. I'd prefer no background vocals at all, and just horn lines written over them.
Don't Fall Asleep on the Subway - 5/10 - I really want to like this song, because at least it has horns in it, and a nice catchy guitar riff, save for the "Dun dun, da-dun, da dun dun, da-dun" over and over, a.k.a. the pop-punk band guitar riff in a lot of these songs. You know which one it is... The one that plays when the filtered background vocals are saying "Hey! Hey! Hey! (which sucks by the way, bad place for it.)" Anyway, that guitar riff needs to not be on the next album. At all. I've noticed it in three songs so far. At least. And I know Anthem never had it, because I would have been pissed off had it been there.
Landmines and Landslides - 5/10 - I gave this an extra point for being truthful. They're destined for disaster if they keep putting songs out like this, non-energetic tunes that use a whimpy "Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh" as a verse in between the last two choruses. Be ska/punk or be pop. Choose one or the other. A lot of the songs on this album so far have sounded like something 14-year-old kids would listen to. My brother said that the first time he heard this album after I bought it, and I really couldn't agree more.
Rest of My Life - 7/10 - I kind of like this track. I think if I had to listen to another pop-punk song in this song's place, I'd have thrown the CD out the window. In all seriousness, though, this is a nice-sounding song. The instrumentation is nice (is this the only acoustic LTJ song besides "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out", not counting the Screws Fall Out part?).
As for the lyrics, they seem to work here somehow. This song sounds like they're lamenting joining up with a major label and doing this to themselves and their fans. ("Doing this", meaning, slowing down their songs, turning them into polished MTV pop-punk, and therefore, by and large, alienating their 20+ age fans at the expense of gaining younger fans and getting their parents to buy lots of LTJ merchandise for them.) Seriously... this song may be in the place it's in on the CD kind of like how an "aside" works in a play. It's like LTJ is turning to us and saying "Oh my God, I'm sorry for doing this. Our record label is making us do this." Just as an apology to the older group of fans.
Mostly Memories - 5/10 - If they wrote a new chorus, I'd like this song. But the whimpy little kid sound isn't working. How many times do I have to say it? Where's the screaming and straining of voices I know and love? Not in this song. I love the horn lines in this song though, so it gets +2 just for that. Still horrible though. I can't, in good conscience, give it more than a 5. They should have deleted this song, Overrated, and Fall Apart, and put in the two songs from the "Absolutions for Idiots and Addicts" EP, and that rockin' bonus track that's floating around, the Trophy Boys and Girls song or whatever. Then I'd like this CD.
Let Her Go - 9/10 - This loses a point for the obligatory pop-punk "na-na na-na, na-na na-na". Other than that, perfect song. Fast, energetic, ska-punk. Maybe I've "overrated" this song, because it doesn't have too much in the way of verses either, but at least it has a great beat and it seems to fit in with the rest of their older songs.
Hopeless Case - 9/10 - This is probably one of my favorite "new LTJ" songs. It's not too bubblegum poppy; it's kind of like a mix of old and new. This is one of the only times Roger screams in the album. Still too slow for my liking, but I guess I'd better get used to it for the next album, if there is a next one.
P.S. Shock the World - 9.5/10 - I really like this song. Much use of the horns, which I favor greatly, and -- holy crap on a stick -- a TROMBONE SOLO! God knows we need more of those in music these days. It's like everyone used horns for a couple albums in the 90s and now no one wants to use them for some reason. They're awesome! Throw 'em in! :-D Also, this gives great insight to what the band might be feeling. The song has a nice feel to it, and it doesn't get annoyingly repetitive until the very end. I had to give this a 9.5 because it was better than anything else on this album. Just in comparison, though. A 9.5 here is about a 7 on Hello, Borders or even Anthem.
And that's it. I wrote this while I listened to the whole thing. Take it for what it's worth. Probably nothing, but maybe you'll share my views, who knows?
Description of In With the Out Crowd
Punk-pop stalwarts Less Than Jake return with the adored band's first original album in three years, In With the Out Crowd, produced by Howard Benson. The punk 'n' horns group has sold more than 1 million records over the past decade, thanks to incessant touring, including on the Warped Tour, where it has been the #1 merchandise seller. Less Than Jake gets out the crowds once more with In With the Out Crowd.Alternative Rock CDs
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