Army of Me

In the months since Army of Me’s Citizen was released, the band has enjoyed nationwide airplay of their hit single, “Going through Changes,” has been featured on MTV, and has toured the country.

But the local rockers, whose sound would fit perfectly alongside Bono and Chris Martin aren’t quite satisfied quite yet.

“It’s like there’s this big mountain we’re trying to climb, and when you’re far away from the mountain, it doesn’t look that big,” lead singer Vince Scheurman said. “It’s like Mount Everest. There’s ‘false summits.’ When you get to one peak, there’s always another one. We still have a ways to go.”

The band’s constant touring has kept them away from home, and Scheurman said the band’s show at the Rock and Roll Hotel Friday will be their first in D.C. in about a year, besides an opening spot at the Shamrock Festival at RFK Stadium in March.

“There’s something special about playing at home. I love playing D.C.,” he said. “Being out on the road, you feel like you’re pushing against a wall and it’s not moving. It’s been tough.”

But the band has stuck together, unlike many of their local peers.
“It’s been interesting to see the scene change,” he said. “A lot of the bands we started with aren’t playing anymore.”

Scheurman said a lot of the material on Citizen comes from dealing with this adversity.

“The record comes from a time in my life where I was going through significant life changes,” he said. “It’s about life, asking bigger questions, trying to get below the surface. It’s about pain, healing, hope. It comes from love. It’s about love. Not romantic love, but a bigger concept of love.”

Scheurman said writing the album’s songs, which often sound like a cross between U2 and Coldplay, was almost surreal.

“I don’t feel like I wrote the songs, but they came from some sort of mysterious grace,” he said. “I feel really good about them. It’s beautiful.”

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Local hipster hero Ted Leo is back with his newest album, Living with the Living, and, fortunately for indie-pop fans, the prognosis looks promising, as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists seem to have found the prescription for success.

A resident of Washington since 1990, Leo seems to have found a niche by delivering eclectic albums with scathing political lyrics and catchy guitar hooks while ultimately staying true to his rock and punk roots. Living with the Living is no exception. The album features everything from reggae to Celtic-influenced rock to unashamed anti-war ballads.

Leo even dabbles in hardcore with "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.," perhaps homage to the district's now-defunct underground hardcore scene (the album was produced by Brendan Canty, drummer of the legendary Washington hardcore band Fugazi), and a clear commentary on the war in Iraq. While Leo makes a noble effort with the song, it is hard to take it seriously, because his usually gentle and airy voice makes for terrible screaming. Still, the song is not a weak point to the album; somehow, it manages to become endearing with its catchy, simple chorus of "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb. Repeat. Bomb."

The band is at its best, however, when sticking to what it knows best: poppy punk-rock songs with fast beats and catchy melodies. After the intro, "Fourth World War," a 35-second clip of various languages, the album gets started with the power-pop song "The Sons of Cain," perhaps the strongest song of the album.

Near the album's close, Leo tests listeners' patience with three songs each clocking in at more than six minutes, including the seven-and-a-half-minute epic, "The Lost Brigade." Fortunately, the song stays diverse enough to not become boring and ends up being the climax of the album.

Another strong point of the album is "Coleen," a song that features Leo over an acoustic guitar but also uses a slick electric solo. If anyone else were singing it, the song would feel thin, but Leo's strong vocals make the song feel just right. "A Bottle Of Buckie" is also an album highlight, as it features an obvious Irish influence and a piccolo solo that seems straight out of a Celtic dance number.

Definitely worth the price of admission, Living with the Living features plenty of indie power-pop goodness. While it may not be as strong as some of the band's previous offerings, particularly the classic Hearts of Oak, the album features enough diversity and plenty of content (a whopping 15 songs) to satisfy any Ted Leo fan.

For those who still can't get enough, the band is releasing a five-song bonus disc, Mo' Livin, to people who pre-order the album. Mo Livin' will include a cover of the classic Chumbawumba song "Rappaport's Testament: I Never Gave Up." Good enough for any Leo-lover.

Shake Your Pepper Shaker

Pepper is OK with the Sublime comparisons. Many people consider the band to be a blatant Sublime rip off, but drummer Yesod Williams says the band doesn't mind.

"It's an honor to be compared to such a great band like that," Williams said. "I don't know how you could take it badly. A few years ago, there were those die-hard [Sublime] fans that would hate on us for it. That gets irritating, but to be compared to a band like that is nothing but good."

Indeed, there are many similarities between the two bands. Both Pepper and the now legendary Sublime blend elements of reggae, ska and punk, along with smooth vocals, into fun and easygoing songs. Currently, Pepper is on a nationwide tour with ska acts Mad Caddies and label mates The Supervillians and Splinta.

Pepper was originally based in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, but relocated to Southern California to tour the country more easily.

"In the mainland, we can just hop in a van and tour the country," Williams said. "In Hawaii, you are kind of landlocked and there's only so many places to play."

Each year, the band organizes and hosts an event, the Kona Town Music Festival, in their home town.

"It's our way of trying to expand the music scene over there, of getting kids to see music they wouldn't normally get to see," Williams said. While the band does not get to play concerts in Hawaii as often as it would like, it did recently play concerts in Oahu and Maui with Bob Fest 2007, an event that also featured Lauryn Hill.

In addition to throwing a music festival each year, Pepper also owns its own record label, called LAW Records. The label was started by Williams' father in the early '80s before eventually folding. Pepper decided to restart the label in 2000, when they re-released their first demo, Give'n It. The label's lineup features four bands, including both The Supervillians and Splinta.

The band recently released its most successful album, No Shame, on Volcom Entertainment, an offshoot of the popular clothing brand Volcom. Some of the tracks featured production by Nick Hexum of 311, who has gone on to become close friends with the band. The rest are produced by Tony Kanal of No Doubt and Paul Leary, who produced many tracks for Sublime. "No control," the single off that album, reached No. 19 on the U.S. Modern Rock Countdown, according to Williams.

After releasing four full-length albums, the band is releasing a rarities album called To Da Max on March 20, which features "everything the band has ever recorded but not released," Williams explained.

This past summer, the band capitalized on its friendship with Hexum and toured with 311 and The Wailers. But touring with 311 was not Pepper's first brush with famous musicians. The band also played a concert with Snoop Dogg in the notoriously dangerous area of Bakersfield, Calif., yet did not get a chance to meet him.

"We were pretty far out of our element. We didn't know if we were going to play a good show or get knifed," Williams said. "Luckily, we escaped unscathed."

After their current tour, the band has a busy summer ahead. Pepper is planning a European tour for May, and after that, the band will be playing the main stage on every date of the Vans Warped Tour, one of the biggest traveling tours in America.

"This is the first time we're playing on the main stage, so it's kind of coming full circle for us," Williams said.

Despite its solid touring fan base, the band does not expect to achieve mainstream success from the experience.

"You definitely hope to achieve as much as you can, to push the music forward, but we're not counting on it," Williams said.

Still, Pepper is content with what it has achieved so far. "Being out on the road is what we do. It's the heartbeat of this band," he said.

Pepper is playing at the 9:30 Club in Washington on Wednesday, March 7. Tickets are still available and cost $15.

Selling Punk, but Not Selling Out

Sorry to break it to the underground punk world, but Against Me! has sold out again - at least, that's what many of the band's oldest fans would say.

But fear not, Against Me! fans who don't care about the band signing to a major label. (The band first "sold out" by signing to indie label Fat Wreck Records, and has now done the unthinkable by signing to Sire, Madonna's former label and Hot Hot Heat and Regina Spektor's current one). The band will perform at the Recher Theatre in Towson tonight, and regardless of your opinion on the ethics of punk rock, Against Me! is going to play - and enjoy its new place at Sire - anyway.

The band is clearly aware of its angry fans who feel betrayed by Against Me!'s switch to Sire, but bassist Andrew "Raw Dog" Seward told Diversions the band doesn't take any of it to heart.

"We are just a band who loves playing music together," Seward said. "You can't listen to people - you have to play for yourselves."

Seward believes a lot of the reason for the trash-talking is the anonymity of the Internet.

"It's really easy for people to talk on the Internet," he said. "Everyone has a right to their opinion, but people say things on the Internet that they wouldn't say to my face."

To poke fun at those angry fans, Against Me! penned the song "Mediocrity Gets You Pears (The Shaker)" off its latest release, Searching for a Former Clarity. On the song, lead singer Tom Gabel sings, "Vampires! We're only in it for the money/Diluted! We took the movement to the market/So f--- us! We totally sold out the scene."

Gabel formed Against Me! in 1997 in Gainesville, Fla. Initially the "band" was only Gabel on his acoustic guitar, but after two self-released demos, the band expanded to include guitars, bass and drums. The band released its first full-length - and most widely admired - album, Reinventing Axl Rose, on No Idea Records in 2002.

Against Me! cultivated its close following by playing concerts in youth community centers and fans' basements, but eventually, Against Me! became popular enough to upgrade to more traditional concert venues.

With the increase in fame came an opening spot for Green Day, and, in 2005, the band played its single "Don't Lose Touch" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, something Seward described as an "amazing life experience."

After countless major label offers, including one from Universal that was hilariously chronicled in the band's 2004 DVD, We're Never Going Home, the band decided to sign with Sire, which was a simple decision, Seward said.

"Some of my favorite bands were on that label," he said. "It is a rock-friendly label."

Fans who are worried about the band changing its sound to fit the mainstream on the upcoming release New Wave need not worry: Seward said the label gave the band "absolute full creative freedom." Seward was also excited about "recording in an awesome studio with as much time as we needed to finish the record."

Seward may have reason to be excited, as the record is being produced by Butch Vig, the man who helped push Nirvana into the mainstream by producing the grunge masterpiece Nevermind. Against Me! spent two months recording New Wave and said Vig was "extremely easy to work with and never once yelled at us."

But having as much time to finish the record may be a double-edged sword for Against Me! fans, who expected it in early spring. Seward said some mixing issues have pushed the record's release back to an early summer release.

"It is being mixed in New York as we speak," he said, adding that the band was supposed to be in the studio for the mixing process but is currently on tour with fellow punk acts Riverboat Gamblers and Fake Problems instead.

Although Against Me!'s rise into the mainstream is somewhat unexpected - Gabel's harsh vocals and the band's strong political beliefs don't necessarily seem like a formula for success - the band's strong cult following obviously shows that something is working for them.

Against Me! is playing at the Recher Theatre in Towson tonight. Tickets are still available and cost $13.

Caught by Cupid's Chokehold

Gym Class Heroes is known to many as the indie rap group that has been grabbed by "Cupid's Chokehold," but what many may not know is the band's hit single - and the band itself - have been around for years, though it is just now getting mainstream attention.

That single, "Cupid's Chokehold," features Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on the chorus and was recorded for the band's second full-length album, The Papercut Chronicles, released February 2005. But since the song was re-recorded for the band's latest album, As Cruel as School Children, it has soared to the top of the pop charts. Last week it held the No. 7 spot on the Hot 100 Countdown, and its popularity has helped sell out Gym Class Heroes' show tonight at the 9:30 Club in Washington.

But when drummer Matt McGinley chatted with Diversions, he admitted that, although the newer version of the song has gained attention for the band, it is not his favorite.

"I am more nostalgic for the older version; it is more stripped-down and organic," he said. McGinley added the band re-recorded "Cupid's Chokehold" because "the first one was made on the budget of whatever money we could borrow from a rich friend. We wanted to polish the song before it was released with our new album."

Regardless of all the notice from the pop-music world, "Cupid's Chokehold" isn't the band's first well-known song. "Taxi Driver," a song featuring the band incorporating the names of many indie bands into a story, was an underground hit that led many to fall in love with the band's clever lyrics and flow.

In the song, vocalist Travis McCoy raps, "I took cutie for a ride in my death cab/ She tipped me with a kiss, I dropped her off at the meth lab/ Before she left, she made a dashboard confessional/ And spilled her guts in cursive." Overall, the song features the names of more than 20 bands.

In fact, it was "Taxi Driver" that helped create the band's first big break. After hearing the song, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy became interested in the band and eventually signed them to his label, Decaydance, an imprint of the label Fueled by Ramen.

Since then, Gym Class Heroes has made great use of its labelmates, McGinley said. He likened the label to a big family and added since Fall Out Boy has also blown up in popularity during the past two years, Wentz and Co. were able to tell Gym Class Heroes what to expect.

"There are lots of bands going through the same things at the same time, so we can help each other," McGinley explained.

After releasing The Papercut Chronicles for Decaydance, Gym Class Heroes was picked up by Atlantic Records - an important step for the band as it provided more exposure on MTV and the radio.

That exposure has since come in various forms: For example, last summer McCoy rapped a verse on the track "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)," which was featured in the cult hit Snakes on a Plane. And appearing in some of Fall Out Boy's videos - as well as having a track featuring the now ubiquitous Stump - certainly didn't hurt the band's rise to fame.

In order to stand out from other rap groups, Gym Class Heroes has to continually keep its sound unique. One way they accomplish this, McGinley said, is by using real instruments in place of the typical, programmed beats employed by other rappers.

"We aren't just pinned into hip hop; we have other styles of music in our sound, like '80s funk," McGinley said. While he insisted he is a huge fan of other instrument-using rap groups, like Jurassic 5 and The Roots, McGinley said Gym Class Heroes is also unique for its incorporation of rock elements, as evidenced by the guest appearances from Stump and William Beckett from The Academy is ..., who is featured on the song "Seven Weeks."

Despite Gym Class Heroes' recent fame, McGinley insists the band members won't let it get to their heads -or, more importantly, their music. While he said the band will progress musically, and its sound may change, don't expect the band to sell out.

"If we make a change musically, it will be for us, not because we want to sell more records," McGinley said.

So far, its efforts have been appreciated by fans, as the band sold out a tour in the United Kingdom and has sold out several dates on its current tour, including the show tonight at the 9:30 Club in Washington, which is an "always very lively" venue to play, McGinley said.

"We are interested in putting together a whole show," he added. "A lot of our songs will be off our last two albums, but we also play songs off of old albums that I'm sure many of our fans haven't ever heard."

Gym Class Heroes' show tonight is sold out.

Gym Class Heroes Story Coming Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night I will post my story about Gym Class Heroes. The story is complete, I just have to wait until it is published in the Diamondback before I put it online here. So check back late tomorrow night, since the story is being run Wednesday morning!

Still Kickin

Hey guys, sorry for my extreme lack of updates. I hadn't really been interviewing anyone and I got a job over winter break so I didn't have time to do updates. Now I am back in school and I'm going to be doing a lot more pieces. Tomorrow night I am going to see Lifetime and World/Inferno Friendship Society, and then next week sometime I should be interviewing Gym Class Heroes. Look out for a few reviews and interviews coming soon!