We Are The In Crowd have announced that they will be releasing their Sophomore album, “Weird Kids,”on February 18th, 2014 via Hopeless Records. “Weird Kids,” produced by John Feldmann (The Used, Yellowcard, All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco), is WATIC’s follow-up release to their successful debut album, “Best Intentions,” which launched the band into worldwideexposure. WATIC will be releasing the first single off the album with a new music video and launching album pre-orders on December 10th. US and UK Tour Dates have also been announced. Full tour dates listed below.VIP pre-sale will begin on 12/4 and public on sale will begin on 12/6 for both tours. For more information: http://www.wearetheincrowd.com/tour.
About the new record, WATIC frontwoman, Tay Jardine, says, “I don’t know that I’ve felt this way about our other records,” She continues, “I’ve been proud of our band for finishing an album. I was happy we got it done. But I’m really proud of this record, and that’s not something I can say easily…I’m as happy with it as I possibly could be.”
The Poughkeepsie, NY quintet – consisting of lead vocalist Jardine, vocalist/guitarist Jordan Eckes, guitarist Cameron Hurley, bassist Mike Ferri and drummer Rob Chianelli – is finally taking its time after four whirlwind years together. Born only in 2009, the band release its debut EP,Guaranteed To Disagree, in 2010 before pumping out its debut full-length, Best Intentions, in 2011. They’ve been touring heavily during that entire timeframe, sharing the stage with All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Yellowcard, Never Shout Never and many more.
The February 18th release of Weird Kids comes with the pressure of following up a highly successful debut album. Sophomore records come with their own voodoo – the dreaded “sophomore slump” always in the back of a band’s head – and Best Intentions ups that ante a bit. The album took We Are The In Crowd to high places, debuting at No. 122 on the Billboard Top 200. But, armed with the opportunity, for the first time ever, to take their time and focus on creating the exact album they wanted to create, the band felt no pressure at all. “We’ve been rushed in the past,”Jardine says. “This time, we wanted to make sure we had enough time to do it right.”
That first meant taking a break from a nonstop touring schedule. When WATIC finally got a break in early 2013 and throughout the summer, they took advantage of it. Writing Weird Kids took over four months spread across the year, but even that wasn’t enough. Heading into the studio with John Feldmann in September, they were still writing songs…in fact, they were writing until the day before Weird Kids was finished.
“John pushed us harder than we’ve ever been pushed – and we knew we needed that,” Jardine recalls. She remembers a specific moment where she realized WATIC was doing something right. Feldmann took her to a coffee shop, after a frustrating and unproductive creative session, “and he asked me, ‘Who are you?’ And I said, “Excuse me?” No one’s really ever asked me that before, I didn’t know how to answer it. He said, ‘Start with when you were born.’ And I just took off. We talked forever. He ended up knowing everything about me.”
Taken out of her comfort zone and opening up to someone she just met resulted in Jardine writing the most personal lyrics of her life. There’s plenty of wit here – the insane catchiness of “The Best Thing (That Never Happened)” is accompanied by Jardine’s snarky take on a “shitty breakup” – but there’s also more depth than We Are The In Crowd has ever offered its fans. The moody opener “Long Live The Kids” is “an emotional roller-coaster of a song,” according to Jardine, where the band displays its versatility, whereas songs like “Windows In Heaven” see Jardine at her most vulnerable, singing about her late father.
“My dad was a musician,” she says, “and he’s always in my head when we’re out reaching these milestones in our band’s career. When we got signed, when we play a big show, I always wish I could call him and tell him about it. We played the main stage at Reading and Leeds and I remember looking up and thinking, ‘Would you be proud of me?’ I wish I knew what he felt about me doing this.”
With Eckes, Hurley, Ferri, Chianelli and Jardine meshing their talents together in what Jardine calls an “all-time high” of creativity for the group, the results speak for themselves. Some songs started sounding like smooth R&B tracks – others were characterized by funky basslines early on. That’s not what they sound like on Weird Kids, but the end result is certainly WATIC’s most diverse record to date.
Until now, We Are The In Crowd has been been an up-and-comer. A promising young band. A group full of potential. The new kids on pop-punk’s crowded block. Weird Kids is here to change that.
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Tracklisting:
Upcoming UK Tour Dates
1/29 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
1/30 – Leeds, UK @ Cockpit
2/01 – Glasgow, UK @ Garage
2/02 – Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Newcastle University
2/03 – Liverpool, UK @ O2 Academy 2
2/05 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 2
2/06 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy 2
2/07 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece
2/08 – Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms
2/10 – London, UK @ Koko
Upcoming US Tour Dates
2/22 – Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizon
2/23 – Toronto, ON @ Virgin Mobile Mod Club
2/25 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
2/26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
2/27 – Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room
2/28 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
3/01 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave Bar
3/02 – Burnsville, MN @ The Garage
3/04 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
3/05 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
3/06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound
3/08 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
3/09 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
3/11 – Sacramento, CA @ Assembly
3/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
3/14 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
3/15 – San Diego, CA @ Soma Sidestage
3/16 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock Live
3/18 – San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
3/19 – Dallas, TX @ HOB-Cambridge Room
3/20 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s Downstairs
3/22 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits
3/23 – Orlando, FL @ The Social
3/25 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
3/26 – Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
3/28 – Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street Club
3/29 – Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java
3/30 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
4/01 – Hamden, CT @ The Space
4/02 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
4/03 – New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
4/04 – Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall
For updates, please visit:
Website: http://wearetheincrowd.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetheincrowd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreTheInCrowd
Instagram: http://instagram.com/wearetheincrowd