[numblock num=”6.5″ style=”3″]For their first effort at a full-length album, Krewella’s Get Wet falls short in creating a cohesive work. Although the production and songwriting ability is clearly there, it lacks the thematic variance necessary in creating a full-on journey for an audience. It succeeds more as a collection of singles, with each track standing alone as a vocal-heavy house banger.[/numblock]
Krewella’s meteoric rise has been well-documented. It was just a little over a year ago when Jahan, Yasmine, and Rainman rolled into Seattle for a set at Volume Nightclub with free admission before 11. Just a couple months later, they opened for Borgore at the Showbox Market for a $20 ticket. Since then, they’ve become one of the premiere house acts in the country, gracing mainstages at festivals worldwide. Riding this success, they’ve released their first full-length album, Get Wet, an entertaining albeit typical effort from the Chicago-raised trio.
Since they first started creating music, Krewella’s never messed around with poetic nuance. Their prevailing themes include being young, staying up all night, and following your heart, and this is totally fine by us. There are no frills attached and they’ve never pretended to be anything more than fun-loving party animals who enjoy the occasional dubstep break following passionate auto-tuned vocals. Put together, it all makes for some damn good music to see while Jahan and Yasmine stage dive into a crowd that just got treated to a face-full of champagne. As a live act, Krewella is the full experience. In an album format, it sadly falls flat.
Get Wet opens with party anthem Live For The Night, a track about staying up all night, drinking with your friends, and living for the moment. Then we have the fourth track, Enjoy The Ride, a party anthem about staying up all night, drinking with your friends, and living for the moment. When you’re creating a full album, things like thematic variance are key in creating a journey for the listener that takes them somewhere that isn’t exactly where they started.
That’s not the say to Get Wet isn’t without its high points, as the highlight comes from their collaborative effort with Travis Barker and Patrick Stump. Dancing With The Devil gives us a sound that’s equal parts vintage Fall Out Boy and Krewella at their dubiest, as Stump (accompanied by the Yousaf sisters) belts out the chilling refrain with gusto.
[quote style=”1″ author=”Dancing With The Devil“]If we die then who will be our enemy, so shut the f*ck up we’re about to leave a legacy![/quote]
This high-octane fast-paced feel is quickly offset by the most heartfelt track on the album. Wedged between party anthems Ring Of Fire and Killin It, Human is an awkward yet welcomed divergence from the “go-hard-all-the-time” atmosphere of Get Wet. With a slowed-down acoustic build, the opening vocals ask “is anybody there, does anybody care what I’m feeling?” It’s something we wish the album had more of outside of a three-minute interlude at the end, and represents the raw emotional vulnerability Krewella has the potential to tap into.
“I am only human, I could use a hand sometimes.” –“Human,” Krewella
With their initial effort at a full-length album, Krewella succeeded in creating a series of singles with a wide appeal. Switch your radio to any station in the last four months and there’s a good chance you’re hearing Alive blare through your speakers. Their popularity extends far outside of the EDM world, as they’ve become integral in the mainstreaming of electronic music. In the context of an album though, Get Wet lacks the cohesion needed to be truly amazing. In a culture where artists release EPs more often than full-lengths, the expectation when someone actually does come out with an album is that it’ll represent something more than just a collection of singles.
Rating Get Wet proved to be something of a difficulty; on one hand, there isn’t a weak song in the bunch. It’s entertaining, and as long as you know what you’re getting into with Krewella, you won’t be disappointed. On the other hand, it’s important to balance the quality of the music within a larger context. Simply creating a bunch of tracks that all sound pleasant on their own isn’t enough, rather they should come together to tell a story. The talented trio may not have succeeded at this yet, but we have no doubts that someday soon they’ll get there.
iTunes: http://bit.ly/19VGOey
Beatport: http://btprt.dj/19wd0Aq
_____________
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
