Album Reviews

Album Review: We The Kings – Smile Kid (EMI/Virgin)

By | Published on Friday 26 March 2010

We The Kings

‘Smile Kid’, the sophomore offering from Florida’s pop-rock long-haired types We The Kings, is an easy listen if ever there was one. Granted, this isn’t always a good thing. And this is one such case. One might label this as ‘background noise’ or, to put it simply, ‘dull’.

While there’s nothing quite like the sound of a grown man singing like the ghost of his prepubescent past, it’s the subject matter which really grates here, the tribulations one might come across at the age of thirteen featuring a little too frequently. “You’re the reason I’m the best I’ll be / so let me stitch your heart so it won’t bleed” – Billy Shakespeare, you’ve got some tough competition there.

Okay, so I’m being a little bit cruel here. But I can’t be the only one who’s tired of bands who sound like old bands being old bands, trying to be new bands by adding in a little bit of half-hearted synth. It’s just not the way Brandon Flowers intended. Though, while We The Kings have produced a slogging, uninteresting record in ‘Smile Kid’, there is the barest hint of potential, if only because of how catchy some of these songs actually are.

But that “hint” really isn’t good enough. We’re told “the world of We The Kings is a never-ending buzz of activity… they are constantly tweeting, updating blogs and websites, and documenting life on the road in their online mini sitcom”. How Generation Z of you. But ever thought about squeezing some time in for actually making good music? We know you have it in you. Give it a go.

For fans of The Ataris mixed with a little Rooney, We The Kings may be right up your street. No need to tread carefully, though – the pavement is as clean and repetitive as it’ll ever get. TW

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