I love ironic album titles. And while I’m sure Rory did not mean it, ‘We’re Up To No Good…’ is a fair reflection of their debut full-length – it just isn’t very good! I had a bit of a rant recently on the Punktastic forums about how too many bands were playing it safe and not enough wanted to push the envelope and try something not so safe. Sadly for Rory, this album is just more of the same old mainstream pop-rock stuff, and while I really like that genre of music, this is just done to a very average standard – there’s very little that stands out from the pack.
Apparently this album has been years in the making, which begs the question why did they not spend even longer attempting to perfect it? Mark Hoppus‘ production skills are used on several tracks, but there’s no Blink 182-esque magic here. There’s a general Cartel/Jimmy Eat World poppy feel on offer, without ever getting anywhere near the standards those bands have set. ‘It’s On Senor…iGo!’ is by far the best song here, one of just a few highlights on an otherwise dreary record that lacks invention or originality. The sad fact is there are plenty of other bands around who do this kind of thing better – and, as a result, I see little point in recommending this album.