All-American Rejects are itching for new tunes. The Oklahoma rockers’ self-titled debut was released by Dreamworks in January, but it’s really almost a year-and-a-half old, having been first released last fall by indie Doghouse Records. “We’ve got some new stuff going on,” says guitarist Nick Wheeler. “We’re totally stoked on doing a new album.”
More than half of the new album is already in demo form or in the head of frontman Tyson Ritter. “He comes up with the melody and the basic chord structure, and then I’ll come in and do the music-theory, geeky shit to it,” Wheeler says. The Rejects will again employ producer Tim O’Heir (Juliana Hatfield, Radio 4) for the release, though they are still scouting out locations. “Somewhere that’s not a hole-in-the-wall piece of shit, cause we’re actually going to have a budget this time,” Wheeler says. “It definitely has to be somewhere pro and somewhere where we can do what we want to do. As opposed to sampling the strings, bring in a real fucking string section. You can’t do that in the middle of nowhere.”
But first the Rejects launch a tour with Hoobastank tonight in Toronto. “On the road we want to focus on the shows,” Wheeler says. “You don’t want to spread yourself too thin, play half-assed shows and write half-assed songs on the road.”
In other Rejects news, the band released Live From Oklahoma: The Too Bad for Hell DVD September 30th. The package was recorded in the group’s hometown of Stillwater and will feature ten tracks from their debut as well as videos for “Swing, Swing” and “The Last Song.”
All-American Rejects/Hoobastank Tour Dates:
- 10/2 – Toronto, Canada – The Docks
- 10/3 – Montreal, Canada – Le Spectrum
- 10/4 – Boston, MA – Avalon
- 10/6 – Philadelphia, PA – 10
- 10/7 – New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
- 10/8 – Washington DC – 9:30 Club
- 10/10 – Detroit, MI – State Theater
- 10/11 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room/Mural Center
- 10/12 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
- 10/13 – St. Louis, MS – Pageant Theatre.
- 10/16 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
- 10/17 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
- 10/18 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
- 10/20 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s BBQ
- 10/21 – Grand Prairie, TX – Next Stage
- 10/23 – Las Vegas, NV – The Joint
- 10/24 – Los Angeles, CA – Palladium
- 10/25 – San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theater
- 10/27 – Vancouver, Canada – Commodore Ballroom
- 10/28 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theater