ARTIST

Something Corporate

Of the myriad young alt-rock bands to arise in the early 2000s, Something Corporate stood out and showed enormous potential. On one hand, the band members were barely out of high school and the esteemed Cali indie punk label Drive-Thru signed the band, both of which helped Something Corporate connect with a large audience of West Coast teenage hipsters looking for a band to claim as their own. On the other hand, though, the band didn't play punk rock; they played polished, literate, radio-ready alt-rock -- in other words, a marketable sound that MCA recognized just before connecting with the band for its debut EP, Audioboxer.

Released in late 2001, Audioboxer featured only six sounds, yet showcased the band's promise as it synthesized post-grunge alt-rock guitar crunch with a bit of impassioned emo-styled songwriting and singing. It also didn't hurt that the band boasted a bona fide poster boy in songwriter/pianist/vocalist Andrew McMahon, a blossoming talent still able to relate to the all-important teenage market given his youth. Before the Orange County, CA, band became Something Corporate, McMahon, drummer Brian Ireland, and bassist Clutch played in another band they had started to compete in a high school battle of the bands. And even though they won the battle, the band didn't last too long.

The turning point came when McMahon met guitarist Josh Partington at a high school party. With a renewed sense of enthusiasm, the teens started jamming together as Something Corporate. Soon they added guitarist William Tell and were playing local clubs; not soon after, they were playing one-off gigs opening for bands like Sugar Ray and Better Than Ezra.

Around this time, Drive-Thru came knocking, and even though the label was known primarily as a youth punk label and Something Corporate was far from that, the partnership made sense -- Drive-Thru recognized the band's potential as a crossover act and Something Corporate recognized the label's reputation as a respected indie. MCA then came into the picture primarily as a distributor, though the major label did use its clout to market the band, making sure to milk the Drive-Thru logo for all it was worth.

Written by Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide