Interscope Records
Release Date: May 17th 2023
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
New Kids On The Block– Still Kids (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Magic
- Summer Love
- Long Time Coming
- Kids
- A Love Like This
- Dance With You
- Come Back
- In The Night
- Runaway
- Pop
- Get Down (feat. DJ Jazzy Jeff)
- Old School Love (feat. Taylor Dayne)
- Better Days
- Stay
Boy-bands. Girl-groups. Vocal groups. Bands where the members don’t play any instruments and share vocals instead. These days people who sing together in perfect harmony; well, they seem to be extremely popular within the past few years, or maybe even the past decade. Bands like One Direction, Little Mix, Pentatonix, Fifth Harmony, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, The Jackson 5, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Bellefire, Blackpink, BTS, The Pussycat Dolls, and Destiny’s Child to name a few (or to name a lot!), are just some of the high profile groups over the years to capture the attention of a few of us, or many of us; as we are introduced to a whole new brand of pop. In the past, I haven’t been actively listening to optimistic, positive music, that girl groups and boy bands mostly record. Aside from CCM I was very sheltered.
However it is through Jon’s and my still-going but still-on-hiatus blog series in 2019, that I started to branch out and listen to all types of music; pop music and vocal groups being one type of music I eventually explored deeply. And what I found out, was that bands like One Direction, Little Mix, Pentatonix, Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, and others; these bands provide to me a sense of peace, calmness, serenity, and comfort, on maybe a different level to any other type of genre. Sure, Christian pop and worship will always resonate to a greater extent than any other type of music- particularly because I am a Christian and I will always gravitate to music that praises Jesus’ name. But pop music with the emphasis on multiple vocalists; they’re something special. The way different singers blend their vocals together; that’s a skill that I admire probably second to beatboxing. Girl groups and boy bands and vocal groups can come and go, some can last a long time, and some can sometimes quit after the first album. Others can quit and then reunite years later. And as I’ve been inspired by some vocal groups, and haven’t with others; what do I make of New Kids On the Block (a boy band from the 80’s, and comprising of Mark Wahlberg’s brother Donnie) and their first studio album in 11 years, called Still Kids?
The truth is that I’m indifferent. I have a few NKOTB albums at home, and I listen to them as background music while I’m cleaning up the house, and though they’re ok, I don’t really pay attention. I grew up with Backstreet Boys, Boyzone and Westlife, and so I’m much more inclined to focus more on these bands rather than an older group from at least a decade earlier. NKOTB… well, they’re my style. They’re not targeting my generation though and that’s the difference. Ask me to name my favourite songs from Backstreet Boys, Boyzone and Westlife, and I could. Not so with NKOTB. I know “Step By Step”. And that’s it. Others I might know by their sound. But I’m not itching to dive deep into their discography anytime soon. In the far future, I probably will. Not right now, there’s so much more music demanding of my attention. And so, why bother ‘reviewing’ or even mentioning Still Kids?
Well… I was interested in an objective sense, plus with the hype surrounding this project- a comeback album, I wanted to see what the fuss was about. And… what is the verdict? 14 songs totalling 44 minutes, and does this album scratch my itch of curiosity for NKOTB? No. not in the slightest. Virtually all the songs are dance numbers and I’d wager hard core fans would love this project. But listening to what I could really say is background music- my suspicions were confirmed. That boy bands are boy bands are boy bands, and whoever you grew up with is who you follow and who you resonate with. There’s no history for me with NKOTB. And thus, Still Kids is objectively good. On their own, the songs are more than ok. There are throwback songs with 80’s musical influences, and objectively, it sounds way better than most of the mainstream pop out there. But there’s just that spark missing, and I’m sorry, but if I’m already committed to Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Boyzone and N*SYNC; then there’s no need for NKOTB. And so… any future studio album I probably won’t eagerly anticipate, unless I’ve actually put in the effort to listen to their past material, which I haven’t done due to various reasons. These guys are talented and iconic and inspiring for their fans, that’s for sure. But I’m not in their demographic- and that’s ok. Still Kids is ok as background music and that’s all. If you resonate with it though, then that’s fine. If not, that’s fine as well. Now a NKOTB Christmas album? That I can get behind!
4 songs to listen to: A Love Like This, Dance With You, Runaway, Old School Love
Score: 3/5
RIYL: Backstreet Boys, Hanson, Jonas Brothers, N*SYNC, Westlife, Boyzone