Aim and Ignite

I saw these guys open for Paramore back during their Brand New Eyes tour (Brand New Eyes is also on the user list). This was before they became the biggest band in the world for a few months with that god forsaken song. Is this any better? Well, it can't be any worse.

The album has a rough start with theatre kid music that takes heavy inspiration from Queen. They're pretty annoying (the band name with punctuation at the end of it should have been an indicator), and at this point I was ready to shred this album apart. On the third song, All The Pretty Girls, comes the biggest Queen pastiche in the entire album, however this song marks a turning point for me, and that shows that the band are more than just cheesy orchestral indie pop and actually have a skill in hooky pop songwriting.

From this point onwards the band are more rocky and I guess you would call this power pop, but they also utilize a lot of glam elements. Their theatrical style and glam influences reminded my of Scissor Sisters quite a bit, though they don't have the same tongue-in-cheek humour. I guess the hooky songwriting foreshadows the band becoming a hit machine and Jack Antonoff's whole career. The signs were there from the start.

Should it be on the main list: No

Top 3 songs: All the Pretty Girls, I Wanna Be the One, Take Your Time (Coming Home)