Though the band has not been as active in playing shows in the Murfreesboro and Nashville area over the past few years, We Were The States (at one time known simply as The States) released a live album in December 2019.
The release captures the group’s indie- and punk-styled pop-rock vibe, or whatever you label the sound of early-2000s rock played by The Strokes, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Jet and those guys.
The tunes by We Were The States feature some great, bouncy and lively bass guitar work. The bass drives the music aggressively, riding on top of the beat in an active but nonetheless chill, reggae sort of way.
The cool and catchy but not overly complex songwriting may have many passionately singing along “Marigold, Marigold” during that track, a tale of a shipwreck.
Overall, the tracks are bouncy and energetic but not too wild. I believe The States have found a very pleasing middle ground in between cheesy pop-rock and extreme thrash, a hybrid that fans of that early-2000s style should appreciate.
The delivery is precise but not cookie-cutter, showing a hyper, bold rock vibe. The vocalist, Justin Webb, lets himself go just to a moderate degree, not too concerned with sounding pretty, but also keeping things reined in somewhat, and not just wildly screaming.
The long-time Murfreesboro band, now signed to Chicken Ranch Records out of Texas, is still making rock ’n’ roll music!
We Were The States sprinkles the songs with attention-grabbing gems, such as a cool guitar switch-off from left to right channels in “Start Something” and the intriguing chord progression on “Supra,” and its motivational message of If you ever get discouraged, don’t quit, not today, not today.
The performance on Live In Austin Texas seems fairly solid for a live recording; it contains perhaps a few passages here and there the band may have opted to redo or clean up if it were done in a studio setting, but overall the listener may often forget they are hearing a live capture.
Find Live In Austin Texas by We Were The States on Bandcamp.
