In with the Out Crowd

Background

Prior to the album's release, Vinnie stated that the album:

"won't be a throwback record. It isn't like anything we've done before. There's slow, The Specials influenced ska, very minor chord ska, over the top, catchy pop-punk, some Foo Fighters influences too. Doing the same record twice would short change the people who like the band. You know, things can't feel redone. You have to try to keep pushing the genre and the band style forward."

Similarly, guitarist, Chris Demakes, notes that the band:

"jumped out of the box a little bit and we did something a little different. I think we’re up to like 140 songs as a band, and you release some songs and a bunch of kids bitch about it. “Oh, this band is over with!” It’s like, “We tried something different. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t.”

Upon its release, drummer and lyricist, Vinnie Fiorello, described the record as "a mix of [previous albums] Hello Rockview, Borders and Boundaries and Anthem."

The album is notable for featuring far less involvement from its horn section than on past albums. In an interview promoting the band's subsequent album, GNV FLA (2008), saxophonist JR noted, "There was a lot of backlash from our last record from a lot of our core fans. And whether it was deserved or not is neither here nor there. It's not worth fighting about, because my opinion of our last record has never changed; it's an awesome record, and I love it."

Artwork

The album artwork features a photo collage of pictures sent in by fans. The band members themselves are mixed throughout.

Release

In February and March 2006, the band went on tour with A Wilhelm Scream, Damone and Rock n Roll Soldiers. On February 16, three songs – "Overrated (Everything Is)", "A Still Life Franchise" and "The Rest of My Life" – were posted on Alternative Press. The band asked fans to pick which one they think should be the album's first single. Eventually, "Overrated (Everything Is)" was chosen as the first single. On March 22, "Soundtrack of My Life" was made available for streaming, the album's track listing revealed, and the music video for "Overrated (Everything Is)" was released. From late March to late April, the band went on a tour of Europe, with Bullets to Broadway on select dates. On April 11, "Let Her Go" was made available for streaming. An Overrated (Everything Is) EP, featuring the title-track, "A Still Life Franchise" and the non-album track "Only Human", was released on May 1.

On May 20, In with the Out Crowd was made available for streaming via Warped Tour's website, and was released on May 23 through Sire Records. The band headlined the 2006 edition of the Warped Tour. On August 8, a music video was released for "The Rest of My Life". On August 22, an animated video was released for "Overrated (Everything Is)", and an alternative version of the song was made available for streaming. "The Rest of My Life" was released as a single on August 28, with "Don't Fall Asleep on the Subway" as the B-side. "P.S. Shock the World" was released as a single on November 13, with a live version of the song as the B-side. On May 21, 2007, the band announced they had left Sire. Fiorello explained: "It became obvious to me and everyone else that its time to move on and in a new direction as band." In July, the band went on a co-headlining U.S. tour with Reel Big Fish, with support from Streetlight Manifesto and Against All Authority.

Reception

The album reached number 78 on the Billboard charts.

In 2016, bass guitarist Roger Lima reflected on his dissatisfaction with the overall writing and recording process, stating: "I wanted to write songs that were a little bit faster, edgier and more punk rock sounding, but the producer that we were working with at the time, Howard Benson, who we’d worked with previously on Hello Rockview, was kind of curving us in the direction of a softer, more slow-tempo mainstream sound. So this album kind of rubbed me in a bit of a weird way. Overall I like the songs, I just wish the production was a little bit more on the punk rock side of things, and I don’t feel like this album was the best representation of how we wanted to sound at that time.”

Personnel

Special Edition

A special edition of the album was also released. It included:

B-Sides

"Negative Sides of Optimistic Eyes" and "We, the Uninspired" were included on the EP Absolution for Idiots and Addicts which was made available prior to the release of In with the Out Crowd. It was available on CD and in the iTunes Store. "Negative Sides of Optimistic Eyes" and "Only Human" are also available as part of other albums/singles in other regions.

There is a fourth song that was dropped from the album. It is currently unreleased and its title is unknown, as it has no vocal track and thus is not high on the band's list of priorities.

Known Demos