All-American Rejects Chronicle L.A. Excess On New Album
Anyone wondering what the All-American Rejects have been up in the three-plus years since 2008’s When the World Comes Down will have that answered March 26th when the band’s new album, Kids in the Street, hits stores.
Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter tells Rolling Stone the record documents the band’s relocation to L.A., and the perils that brought about. “A lot of this record is just Polaroids, going through this downward spiral of moving to Los Angeles and getting lost in a little bit of excess and this lifestyle that can easily be bought into,” he says.
As an example, the album’s lead single, “Beekeeper’s Daughter,” comes from the experience of trying to date in L.A. “It’s just this insensitive guy who’s built up this tortoise shell of Kevlar to the fact that this town is sort of pinched him and made him bitter,” he says. “I’m from Oklahoma, and I ran into this city with open arms and, man, it just seemed to be a bad approach for me.”
Dating in L.A. has led a lot of people a stray, but Ritter found himself in his music. “It’s just really cathartic, this record, like a personal psychiatrist. Even songs like ‘Walk Over Me’ are pretty much just me talking to my piano,” he says. “I turned it into the doctor.”
Ultimately, his “therapist” led Ritter to a happy ending. “Growing up in front of a microphone since I was 17, you transform through four records. Liking the person you are at the end of it, it’s an unexpected bonus.”
Having found his silver lining – not only musically, but by moving to New York – Ritter is anxious for fans to hear new material, which the band will do beginning March 31st in Flagstaff, AZ (full tour dates below). “I think mentally we’re just so ready and excited to debut this record for people who have been following us for 10 years now,” he says. “It’s a cool feeling to be able to share some new songs.”
And the Rejects are musically ready to play the new material. Teaming with producer Greg Wells (Katy Perry, Adele) they went for a live sound in the recording. “It was really important to me that we capture a really good, spontaneous energy on this record,” Ritter says. “Some of our favorite records are covered in mistakes, and I feel like it’s those blemishes around that beauty that make it a truly unique piece.”
All-American Rejects Tour Dates
3/31 Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
4/2 Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM
4/4 Beaumont Club, Kansas City, MO
4/5 University of Nebraska-Kearney, Kearney, NE
4/6 Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City, OK
4/7 The Pageant, St. Louis, MO
4/9 Metro, Chicago, IL
4/10 House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
4/11 Motor City Casino, Detroit, MI
4/13 Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ
4/14 Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
4/15 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
4/17 Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON
4/18 Le National, Montreal, QC
4/20 Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
4/21 Northern Lights, Clifton Park, NY
4/22 Pearl Street, Northampton, MA
4/24 Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA
4/25 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
4/27 MIT, Cambridge, MA
4/28 Royale, Boston, MA
4/29 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
5/1 The National, Richmond, VA
5/2 Norva, Norfolk, VA
5/4 Beacham Theatre, Orlando, FL
5/5 Sunfest, West Palm Beach, FL
5/6 Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg, FL
5/9 The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
5/11 The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
5/12 Expo Live, Louisville, KY
5/13 Bogart’s, Cincinnati, OH
5/15 Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, NY **
5/17 Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH **
5/18 Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT **
5/19 Bamboozle, Asbury Park, NJ
5/20 Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA **
5/22 Colisee Pepsi Arena, Quebec City, QUE **
** with Blink-182