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Ever since The All-American Rejects jumped from independent label Doghouse Records to DreamWorks, the Oklahoma band has been experiencing the inevitable cries of “sell-out” from former supporters in the indie crowd. “I think a lot of people don’t respect us anymore,” reflects drummer Chris Gaylor. “When we were on Doghouse we were this cool indie-pop band and that was awesome. But when you sign to a major, you’re just some dumb boy-band pop group. I don’t see how that differs. We didn’t change any of ourselves or any of the music.” Originally issued in October of 2002, their self-titled debut… Read more »
From Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” in the 1970s to Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” in the ’80s, and R. Kelly’s “If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time” a decade later, songs about stopping time are as numerous as sands in an hourglass. The All-American Rejects extend the time-honored tradition with their third single, “Time Stands Still.” The song, which follows “Swing Swing” and “The Last Song,” is similar to the themes that flow through the Oklahoma band’s self-titled debut album in that they’re all about singer, bassist and lyricist Tyson Ritter’s girl problems. But… Read more »
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.… Read more »
The Wild Boys are back, and they’re coming to a theater or auditorium near you. Duran Duran have set the first 16 dates of their fall reunion tour, which will kick off November 8 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. So far the outing is scheduled to wrap November 30 in San Diego, although more dates are likely to be added. Cities include Chicago (two nights), Atlanta and Philadelphia, but not New York or Los Angeles, where the band played earlier this year. Advance tickets are available at duranduran.com. The tour, Duran Duran’s first with the original lineup in more than… Read more »
Britney Spears and Metallica will reprise their roles as awards-show performers when they hit the stage for the 31st annual American Music Awards, taking place at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on November 16, according to a show spokesperson. Ashanti, Hilary Duff and Alan Jackson round out the preliminary list of performers. Additional artists are expected to be announced later. Fourteen artists are tied for the most award nominations, including Ashanti, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Missy Elliott, Eminem and Beyoncé. Each artist received two nods in 20 categories. Ashanti’s two nods came for Favorite Female Artist – Hip-Hop/R&B and Favorite Album… Read more »
Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Missy Elliott and Beyoncé are among the artists up for multiple awards at this year’s 31st annual American Music Awards, which will be broadcast live on November 16 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Other artists with a pair of nominations include R. Kelly, Kid Rock, Luther Vandross, Norah Jones, Eminem, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Toby Keith. The event will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The main awards are divided into four music genres, Pop/Rock, Soul/Rhythm & Blues, Country and Rap, with categories in each for Favorite Male Artist; Favorite Female Artist; Favorite Band,… Read more »
R.E.M. beings its six-week North American tour on Friday (August 29) at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver-where the trio has been working on its next studio album. The new tour is not supporting a particular album, since the group’s next release, In Time: The Best Of R.E.M., 1988-2003, doesn’t come out until October 28. But bassist Mike Mills revealed that the group doesn’t feel like it has to have a specific reason to tour. “I don’t often think about tours as supporting albums, although the next one we do will,” Mills said. “This one, it’s touring around the Best Of, so… Read more »
Subtlety is not a trademark for the All-American Rejects, but neither is specificity. Most of the band’s songs address bad relationships and broken hearts, but details of the scarring experiences are often missing. On the group’s next single, vocalist Tyson Ritter sings, “Life is turned, the day I knew you would leave/ I can barely breathe/ Can you hear me scream?” That’s about as close as the Rejects get to confessional revelation. So what exactly is the tune about? “It’s about 96-beats-per-minute and it’s in the key of C major,” quipped bassist Nick Wheeler in a most unhelpful manner. “It’s… Read more »
