The And We Would Have Gotten Away With It Too… EP is the debut release from Liverpool pop punk band Kids We Used To Be. Released through Like Records it offers four tracks dripping promise for a band still in evolution. With a hardcore vein bursting through their songs the band whilst not laying down deep scars of originality leaves one anticipating great things ahead once they find their true selves in their sound.
Taking their name from one of their influences Alexisonfire and their song Old Crows, Kids We Used to Be is barely a year old, being formed in the Summer of last year. Consisting of vocalists Ste McEvatt and Carl Gunning, backed by the musical prowess of guitarists James Cremor and Lewis Gardner, bassist Mike Higgins, and Lee Berrill on drums, the sextet use additional flavours from the likes of The Wonder Years, Set Your Goals, Alexisonfire, and Man Overboard, to forge their own not yet distinct but flavoursome sound, the band feeling like one still in transition. They have in their relatively short time already lit up stages alongside bands such as Polar Bear Club, Paige, Kyoto Drive, The Story so Far, Man Overboard, and Decade and set themselves as a band to certainly keep an eye on, something the EP does nothing to suggest otherwise.
30 Down opens up the release with a firm hand of striking melodic strikes and cruising riffs. Gruff brawling shouts going as vocals enter the affray and are fair if unspectacular in what seems to be a growing need for bands to employ this aspect against clean vocals which here are very agreeable and add a balance to their coarse counterpart and the track itself. The song itself is a bruising encounter without unleashing a barrage of aggression which works well with the melodic enterprise from the guitars.
The following Hey Aqualung litters the ear with feisty riffs and firm rhythms in a regular pop punk approach. Again the dual vocals dominate the song predominately though it is no reflection on the strong songwriting and sounds which without being the most imaginative easily satisfy and keep the attention fully engaged. The building crescendos throughout work well and add extra intrigue to what is a good song with an anthemic edge.
By this point the rough vocals feel in need of variety to be honest, the idea of using the twin attack in pop punk is a different aspect but someone simply screaming in the ear is at times too distracting. Against music which at the end of the day is not the most intensified and violent personal taste leaves one to hope there is a reassessment in that department, not a removal but a better definition and diversity.
The best song by far on the EP is Nothing Good Happens After 2AM, a song which alone shows why the suspicion that Kids We Used To Be has a definite strong future ahead is so strong by the end of the release. Easily infectious the song is the most inventive and imaginative track. With the punk urgency which is to an extent lacking elsewhere and a predatory air to its muscular riffs and thumping beats, it shows a band in complete unison and at the top of their current skills. Whether the song is new compared to the others or recorded at a different time we cannot say but in every aspect it is better, in creation, individual delivery, and production. This is the lead song and should be a single to really set the band off on a decisive rise.
Completed by a demo version of Man, I Hate Your Friends which again offers strong assumption the band will make a bigger mark ahead, the And We Would Have Gotten Away With It Too… EP is a more than decent introduction with one song by itself declaring Kids We Used To Be a band who will grab our attention often as they develop. Right now the EP is well worth some of your time, Nothing Good Happens After 2AM worth a persistent entertaining.
https://www.facebook.com/KidsWeUsedToBeOfficial
RingMaster 30/06/2012
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