We Are The Arsenal remind me a little bit of a darker Madina Lake; the bio compares them to AFI and The Offspring but they don’t really sound like either of those bands. It’s radio-friendly pop-rock that’s destined to get them legions of fans. To some We Are The Arsenal will be offensively inoffensive; it’s all a bit fluffy and passionless.
‘They Worshipped The Trees’ isn’t a bad record by any stretch, it’s just a bit…meh. It doesn’t really envoke any kind of emotion from me at all, the first few times I listened it just kind of drifted by with songs blending in to one another. On closer inspection, paying a bit more attention, it became clearer that these songs are very slick and highly polished and that WATA can clearly write a tune. I just think the demographic this band will appeal to is probably half my age – meaning commercial success but probably not critical acclaim…