The Working Title – Everyone here is wrong / 2003 Redemption Records / 7 Songs / http://www.theworkingtitle.com / http://www.redemption.net / Released 14 October 2003 / Reviewed 15 November 2003
Mixing what is popular in “emo” music with a Blessid Union of Souls-type sound, The Working Title is a youthful band that has made an incredible impact on their scene, despite their greenness. Perfectly groomed for immediate media immersion, The Working Title just exudes a hypnotic attractiveness in each note. What immediately strikes a listener at the first listen to Everyone Here is Wrong is the interesting time signatures and interplay between instruments, most clearly shown in the opening to “Something She Said”. In “Something She Said”, the immediate hookiness of “Rebuttal” is shucked for a more serious, inflective track, along the lines of At the Drive-In or Billy Talent. “Thoughts on Love’s Mishaps” continues this interesting interplay with different pieces of the band, showing a scaling guitar mesh interestingly with Joel’s vocals, which ebb and flow with the control of a Sarah Vaughn.
The Southern twinge of bands like The Georgia Satellites and R.E.M. has influenced The Working Title, as well as a number of bands that would not be thought of as being influential yet – for example, the aforementioned Blessid Union of Souls, as well as Vertical Horizon and the Counting Crows. While none of these tracks can be truly be called punk, I don’t see it as what The Working Title is looking for in the creation of their music. On “Everyone Here is Wrong”, we hear a band that works well in the pop-rock paradigm, but actually expands the pallet of what was previously thought improper in the genre.
In fusing the emotive force with emo with the college-rock sound exemplified by Dave Matthews or any other goof with a guitar, The Working Title ensure a broad range of followers. “Never Forever” pushes the envelope from that definitions in the sense that it still maintains the solid musicianship of the band, as well as the extremely smooth stylings of Joel, but rocks almost as much as a Live or The Starting Line track. The Working Title is a band that will go far – plans are already being made to release a full length LP on Universal Records in 2004, and it would be astounding if you didn’t hear The Working Title on MTV and every pop-rock station.
Rating : 6.5/10
Top Track : Never Forever