The All-American Rejects - Topic

The All-American Rejects need no introduction... but we'll give you one anyway. Since forming in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1999, the group have released four albums, numerous hit singles such as “Swing, Swing” and “Dirty Little Secret” and toured alongside everyone from Blink-182 to Bon Jovi. Admittedly things have been relatively quiet for the band since their last full-length Kids In The Street came out in 2012, but armed with a three-song single and a new lease on the music business, their Epitaph Records debut shows that the latest chapter of the band is a natural progression in the career of an act who never broke up, never compromised, and always stayed true to their own artistic vision, regardless of what A&R executives tried to mold them into being. “We were doing things one way for so long that all of us kind of had to step away and have some different experiences both personally and professionally,” Wheeler explains, “now we feel really re-energized and ready to share these songs.” Admittedly things are a little more complicated these days for the band—bassist/vocalist Tyson Ritter, guitarists Nick Wheeler and Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor—as they are now living all over the country. However as they proved with 2017's Sweat EP, they're still harnessing their creativity in exciting new ways. The songs on Send Her To Heaven were all written and recorded two to three years ago with different producers, a process that was a relatively new experience for the band. “The last couple of records were fun to make but they were pretty draining, whereas I think recording this way keeps us on our toes and excited,” Kennerty explains. “We recorded each of these songs on their own and didn't think of them as a package. We just took each song and went to a different producer to see what we would come up with,” he says of the process, “Because of the way we went about it, I think we created a diverse group of songs that might not have happened if we did it the way we've always recorded in the past.” These songs may not have been created with the intention of being released together but despite their sonic differences, they coalesce to form a cohesive narrative about elation, excess, and the inevitable comedown. “I think these songs do have a through line and not only because these songs were written during the same period of time,” Ritter explains. Send Her To Heaven kicks off with “Send Her To Heaven,” a Pixies-inspired song that came out of a co-wri