Crime In Stereo

The Troubled Stateside

[2/5] Crime In Stereo come off like torchbearers of the East Coast hardcore scene-except they’re not really hardcore. They play with about as much urgency as 98 Mute and sound as radio-ready as the MTV2 bands they knock on their record label’s website. Working with producer Mike Sapone (Brand New, Straylight Run) on The Troubled Stateside, the band load their best Pennywise impression with a Brand New-style sense of literate earnestness that works about as well as nailing Jell-O to a tree. Lots of out-of-tune “Yeahs” and purposefully grainy vocals vie to create the illusion of conviction, and at times, it almost works. The Troubled Stateside will no doubt inspire some dilettante punk listeners to scribe the band’s name onto their folders and backpacks, but for folks who’ve been around the block, this sort of thing will leave about as deep an impression as the Click Five.
(NITRO) Casey Lynch