Rejects Rejected
With Stillwater rockers The All American Rejects having perfected an enticingly popular sound over recent years, it comes as a bit of a surprise that the Oklahoma boys would want to mix things up a bit. With Grammy-nominated producer Greg Wells (Adele, Katy Perry, OneRepublic) on board for their fourth studio album, the band have taken the opportunity to embellish their style, enhancing tracks like Fast And Slow and the album's title track Kids In The Street with a spectrum of synthesised instruments.
The swaggering personality of leading single Beekeeper's Daughter is complemented beautifully by prominent additions such as the horn section, but equally by the subtle touches provided by a dainty glockenspiel. Tracks such as Walk Over Me superbly balance guitar-centric verses and choruses with calmer reflective sections that often allow for greater harmonic experimentation. Bleed Into Your Mind is a wonderful example of the band's departure from their roots, also featuring a middle eight that slightly drifts away from the general fashion of the song to enter a spiralling whirlpool of absorbing harmonic character.
Occasionally artists can throw high-class production at a collection of tracks and expect the newly established glitzy facade to mask incompetent writing, but thankfully this is not the case for The All American Rejects who have utilized supernumerary instrumentation to decorate rather than deceive. Songs like Affection are beautifully orchestrated, with tender strings and heavenly flute reflecting a sombre tone that dramatically transforms into a grandiose sound with pounding timpani and a stadium-rock electric guitar lead. Gonzo is another track that builds from a deathly silence to a wall of electrifying sound, with its climaxing sound falling somewhere in between Jimmy Eat World and 30 Seconds To Mars. Given all the focus on the instrumental composition in a song like this, it would have been easy for The All American Rejects to neglect the album's lyrical writing, but as lines of wisdom such as, "only when you look forward can you see behind" are delivered, it becomes apparent that Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler have not let their game slip.
Kids In The Street is an intriguing release from the established Oklahoma rockers, with the band's creative ambition worthy of admiration. It may be quite a departure from the norm for the band when compared to other full-length albums in the group's discography, but its appeal certainly does begin to materialize after multiple listens and is a surprisingly rewarding 'grower'. It may be different, but take a patient approach and you will find that there is a lot to discover.