Demi Lovato? You see as soon as I spell checked this review it threw up an error. More on that shortly. ‘Smile Kid’ is the sophmore album from American Pop-Rock ensemble We The Kings and starts off in suitably cheery style. It’s evident within the first 10 seconds that when adding the sugar to the mix these guys were using desert spoons. There are ‘whooah’s and ‘do do do’s and ‘aaah’s a plenty and if I lived near a beach somewhere in California this would possibly be a permanent resident in my car stereo. As it happens I don’t and having just come out of the longest winter in my memory it feels off kilter for such a buoyant album to be released at this time of year. But then again this album isn’t aimed at me so let’s get into the mindset of the target audience. And that’s where I return to ‘Demi Lovato’. The inclusion of the Disney star, for me and my spellchecker, is a dubious one.
So, gripes and moans out of the way is the album any good? If you like ‘You Me At Six’, who WTK are currently supporting on a UK tour, then it’s safe to say you’ll eat this stuff up. It’s packed to the rafters with sing-a-long choruses, tales of young love, lost love, summer love, you get the idea. ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is a great example of the euphoric heights these guys can hit, even though it sounds a tad like Kelly Clarkson’s ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’, it’s a great poppy rock song. This is followed by the standout track of the album ‘The Story Of Your Life’ which has a bit more pace and edge to it and a chorus that it is begging for the audience to join in with.
All in all it’s an frivolous affair that is not going to change your life but may put a smile on it for a while.
Track Listing
She Takes Me High
Promise The Stars
Heaven Can Wait
The Story Of Your Life
Rain Falls Down
Summer Love
In-N-Out (Animal Style)
Spin
Anna Maria (All We Need)
We’ll Be A Dream (Feat. Demi Lovato)
What You Do To Me
Check Yes Juliet
Tour Dates With You Me At Six
March 9 Birmingham O2 Academy
March 10 Kingsway Newport Centre
March 11 Sheffield O2 Academy
March 12 Manchester Apollo
March 13 Newcastle O2 Academy 2
March 14 Glasgow O2 Academy
March 16 Leeds O2 Academy
March 17 Nottingham Rock City
March 18 Southampton Guildhall
March 19 Norwich UEA
March 20 London Brixton Academy
