All-American Rejects: To ‘Hell’ and back


By John Benson

entertainment@vindy.com

Having been to hell and back proved to be just what rock act All-American Rejects needed when it came time to record the follow-up to its 2008 studio effort “When The World Comes Down.”

The band’s third CD resulted in its first international hit, “Gives You Hell,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on top-40 radio, became the No. 1 most-played song of 2009 at the format and sold more than 4 million copies. However, hell isn’t always platinum, as All-American Rejects lead singer and bassist Tyson Ritter found out spending nearly a year living out of a bottle and carousing around Los Angeles.

Eventually, Ritter reconvened with band mate and guitarist Nick Wheeler to leave the glitz and glamour for California’s Sequoia National Park, Maine and Colorado to write the band’s recently released CD “Kids In The Street,” which is being called the band’s best yet. Highlights include the lead single “Beekeeper’s Daughter” and the current single, the synth-driven title track.

“The record itself is kind of the downward spiral and realization Tyson went through when we moved to Los Angeles,” said Wheeler, calling from outside of Los Angeles.

“I think the first single is an ‘I don’t give a [expletive] about anybody but myself, and I’m just going to do whatever the [expletive] I want.’ The title track is more of remembering where we came from and more of the reflection and realization part of the record, while the record ends with an acoustic song called ‘I For You.’ We actually kept the demo because the recording was so pure. That’s the ultimate apology song.”

What fans won’t find on “Kids on the Street” is another “Gives You Hell,” which was playful in tone and actually had more of a novelty feel. It turns out the band hesitated not only recording the hit single but even in releasing it to radio. Wheeler said the outfit had the same reservations with its 2005 hit “Dirty Little Secret,” as well as “Beekeeper’s Daughter.” Apparently, there’s something magical that takes place when the band challenges itself to come out of its comfort zone.

Looking back a decade, All-American Rejects arrived at a time in the music scene when emo was raging. Early on, the act was mentioned as just another pop-punk act but somehow managed to survive without becoming closely tied to that trend or any other. Basically, the act is a rock band. Wheeler thinks he knows why the outfit has survived for so long.

“We stayed away from Los Angeles as long as possible, and none of us got married,” Wheeler said. “We’re just really hard workers, and we really take our time and push ourselves to craft the best thing we have to offer each time. We firmly believe each record we put out is better than the previous. I think some people just get lazy and rest on those laurels and get caught up on the whole Hollywood thing. All they do is start dating famous people, and that’s it — the band breaks up.”

So what level of celebrity would be attracted to the All-American Rejects?

“I’ve been watching [Showtime series] ‘Shameless,’ and I think all of us have a thing for Emmy Rossum.”

When it’s pointed out that she used to date Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz, who met the actress over Twitter, Wheeler kind of freaks out.

“Dude, that guy gets every girl in Hollywood. I don’t know how he does it,” Wheeler said, laughing. “He has to be like 50 by now.”

Perhaps Wheeler needs to be more active with his band’s Twitter account?

“Dude, I’ve tried that,” he said. “It doesn’t work.”

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