Stephen Lemont

For The Maine Campus

Amidst the recent explosion of the electronic dance music scene, there have been a number of disk jockeys who rely on guest appearances by vocalists to create radio-friendly dance anthems. Chicago-based music group Krewella takes a slightly different approach.

Krewella blends multiple styles and subgenres with EDM to create radio- and club-friendly pop and dance music. Consisting of sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousef, as well as Kris “Rain Man” Trindl, the group has been active in the EDM scene since 2007. Their style is heavily reliant on catchy hooks and melodies. Jahan and Yasmine share vocal duties, while Rain Man takes the helm of laying down the beats. It is a unique mix of pop, electronica, house, dubstep, and drum and bass.

The group rose to prominence on the heels of their “Play Hard” EP, released in June of 2012. The single, “Alive,” garnered a lot of attention and the EP itself made its way to the top of Billboard’s Dance Radio Airplay chart. The success of the initial EP saw Krewella release a follow-up EP in December of 2012. “Play Harder” contained a new track, “Come and Get It,” as well as multiple remixes of two songs from the “Play Hard” EP.

While releasing the two EPs helped to bring their music to larger audiences, the group was also aided by frequenting the music festival circuit, particularly among festivals grounded in electronic dance music such as Ultra Music Festival and Electric Daisy Carnival.

On their debut major label release, Krewella includes three tracks from their previous EPs. “Alive,” “Killin’ It” and “Come and Get It” may not be new to old fans of the group, but the strength of each song makes it difficult to argue against their inclusion here.

While Krewella does a fine job of crafting songs on their own, there are a couple of guest contributions on two tracks. Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy and Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame guest on “Dancing With the Devil.” The song is one of the heavier tracks on the album and would appeal to fans of Skrillex and dubstep in general.

Pegboard Nerds also guest on the final track of the album, “This Is Not the End.” None of the guest spots overshadow the group, however, and every track has a definitive sound that lends itself only to the Krewella namesake.

The most impressive of the new tracks on the album is “Live For the Night.” Opening the album, it quickly sets the tone for the record. The song is a party and club anthem, focusing lyrically on living in the moment and taking the night by storm. Expressing the sentiments of many young adults, the lyrics sarcastically reference there being no need to sleep, because you can “sleep when [you are] dead.”

Most of the songs featured on “Get Wet” carry similar sentiments. The music expresses ideas and notions of being young, wild and carefree. The group clearly knows the audience they are playing to, and they seem happy to humor them. The songs carry enough of a melody to remain radio-friendly, while at the same time incorporating aspects of EDM that maintain an edge.

As a whole, the album flows well. As they state in the opening track, they “live for the night,” and their music reflects that. Each song melds into the next perfectly and the record is a great soundtrack for a night out on the town.

Often, electronic music artists are passed off for creating music that can’t be reproduced live by “real” instruments. With the rise and revival of the electronic music scene, it would seem as though it is time for those preconceived notions to be a thing of the past. The production is fantastic and credit should be given where credit is due. Krewella has successfully created pop music that dives into multiple styles of electronic dance music and does so impressively.

“Get Wet” is a strong major label debut from Krewella and should solidify itself as a go-to weekend soundtrack for months to come.

Grade: A-