Review: The All-American Rejects – The All-American Rejects

My first impressions of The All-American Rejects, and their pop-centered rock, were generally favorable. The band stormed onto the scene with their charming first single, “Swing, Swing,” that carefully swayed from swooning falsetto vocals, from frontman Tyson Ritter, to a more lush tenor sound with ease. The single seemed to be played everywhere from baseball games, to grocery stores, and it was undeniably catchy. Their self-titled LP was produced by Tim O’Heir (The Starting Line, Say Anything) and he does a nice job of accentuating the best parts of the band on this fairly straight-forward collection of songs. A little know fact about the debut is that when the album was recorded, Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler were the only two band members, and it was until the band would shoot their video for their debut single that they would add Mike Kennerty on rhythm guitar and Chris Gaylor on drums. This lineup is still intact to this day, and The All-American Rejects would see even greater success with their sophomore album, Move Along. The All-American Rejects would go on to sell a million copies in the United States, and solidify the band as a marquee name in the pop-rock realm for the foreseeable future. The album was recently reissued on a “Ghostly Green” vinyl that includes a bonus 7″ vinyl on “Coke Bottle Green” to further celebrate the 20+ years that have passed since this record came out.

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