We The Kings - Somewhere Somehow (Album Review)

We The Kings has been riding a steady decline in interest, in the eyes of many, since their self-titled debut album. That album had some pretty catchy choruses and fairly infectious songs that had high schoolers and early twenty somethings singing along to songs like "Check Yes Juliet." Since then the band has released two albums that have failed to push them past their debut album (IMO). Smile Kid and Sunshine State Of Mind (although both landed in the top 200 when they were released) mostly were panned or received mixed critical reviews. After those two albums the band decided to take the labeless route and start a IndieGoGo campaign to self-fund their fourth full length, which was very well funded proving their fans actually still have quite a bit of interest in listening to their music. When judging albums some bands have too many hands in the kitchen when they make an album meaning labels can step in, changes are made, etc... We The Kings fans have afforded the band the opportunity to release a music that rest on the shoulders of the band making it with Somewhere Somehow.

I have to mention two things that I think will instantly cause fans to be alarmed about this album which are the quick title change and the artwork. The news of the album title was announced as Vitam Regum and it took about the time for it to hit music sites before the album title was quickly changed to Somewhere Somehow. The second big hindrance about the new album is the artwork the band has decided to use. Let's just say if you thought the artwork to Smile Kid was bad you may want to cover your eyes and ignore the artwork for Somewhere Somehow. For some reason the band decided to crop a fairly old promotional photo and throw over some overused fonts for the band name and title. This band has been riddled with bad artwork for their albums most of their career. You'd think given that they controlled the creative process of this album and they raised quite a bit of money on IndieGoGo ($149,453 to be exact) they could come up with something quite a bit better or more creative.

After all is said and done though the most important thing is the music. So what do I think about the music on this album? I'm sorry to say that once again this album does not top the bands very good debut album or Smile Kid. However, it does show marked improvement from the bands previous album Sunshine State Of Mind. "Queen Of Hearts" is a decent first song for the album and basically catches the vibe of the album pretty well, which I think is basically mid-tempo pop/rock. "Say It Now" may just be one of the better songs the band has written in four or five years. Travis Clark sounds better vocally on the album than he did on the band's previous album. There isn't much of the power/pop/punk from the bands first couple of albums. Instead this album has more of a radio pop/rock vibe. I've seen similar stylistic changes from bands like The Plain White T's. "I Feel Alive" may be one of the songs with the closest sound of the band's first couple of albums. It was definitely one that stuck out at me on first listen. On the negative side there are songs like "I Like It" which has trouble finding balance both musically and lyrically. Style wise the band do the sound okay but it still just doesn't catch me and leave me wanting to have repeated listens to most of the songs. That’s not to say they wouldn't be catchy to the right audience; it’s probably more to do with my personal taste.

With the band moving toward the more pop style on their last couple of releases and away from the rock or pop/punk from their first two releases, they are continuing and improving their new style on this new album which could be a sign the band could be on the way to perfecting the pop sound in an album or two. So if you've been a fan of the last couple albums this should be something you are really excited about. At this point though after listening to this new album it seems We The Kings has made a conscious decision to move away from the sound of their first two albums. It seems like they are more than content with moving into the radio pop/rock direction.

Overall there is still this nagging reminder the band hasn't lived up to the potential I once thought they had on their debut. Or maybe the band just didn't go in the direction sound wise I would have preferred. If you are looking for songs like "Check Yes Juliet" on this album I don't think you'll find them. Or at least I didn't think I heard songs like that on this album. I think fans will enjoy this album more than Sunshine State Of Mind. This is definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of this band. If you've been off the bandwagon for a while this album probably won't convince you to get back on if you’re longing for that original sound, although I would at least recommend checking out "Say It Now" because you might be pleasantly surprised. This album sounds mostly like the sound on Sunshine State Of Mind but it’s been better realized.