American Hi-Fi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Hi-Fi | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Boston, Massachusetts, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Pop punk | |
| Years active | 1998–present | |
| Label(s) | Island Records Maverick Records |
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| Website | Official website | |
| Members | ||
| Stacy Jones Jamie Arentzen Drew Parsons Jason Sutter |
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American Hi-Fi is a pop punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for their 2001 hit "Flavor of the Weak". To date, they have released three studio albums and a live album, the band suggesting on their official website [1] that a fourth would be recorded this summer.
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[edit] Band Origins
The frontman, Stacy Jones, was the drummer in Letters To Cleo and Veruca Salt before he decided he wanted to start his own band and taught himself to play guitar in the back of the Veruca Salt tour bus. He quit the band, returned to Boston, recruited his best friends and the band started jamming in the old Cleo rehearsel space. The band met Bob Rock and impressed, he agreed to produce their first album, but insisted they change their original name, "BMX Girl", because it "sucked". The band agreed on the name American Hi-Fi, meaning American High Fidelity, the closest type of music to describe the American style of life.
[edit] Island Records
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2001. It spawned the radio hit "Flavor of the Weak" which reached the Top 50 charts in both the USA and the UK, and also "Another Perfect Day", which was less succesful. In 2002, they then released a live album titled Rock N Roll Noodle Shop/Live in Tokyo Japan. In 2003 they released their second studio album, The Art of Losing produced by Nick Launay, but the first single, the self-titled "The Art of Losing", was only a minor hit and their second single "The Break Up Song" sold even less records.
[edit] Maverick Records
It was at this point that their label, Island Records, decided that the future of music was with "emo" bands and let the band go. Determined to continue, they moved to Los Angeles and took over a studio that once belonged to Eric Erlandson from Hole. Jones invited his friend Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan) to produce the album and he agreed (they opened for him and also played as his backing band on the albums tour). The result was a third studio album, Hearts on Parade, released in early 2005. There were two singles to the album, "The Geeks Get The Girls" and "Hell, Yeah!", but both failed to even breach the US Modern Rock charts. The album has a much poppier sound than their two previous offerings, leaving many fans bitterly disappointed and some going as far to call them "sell outs". Undeterred, the band recorded a song called "The Rescue" for the Superman Returns movie, which featured on the soundtrack and they also released as a single. They are currently writing and recording a fourth album, which is due for release in 2007.
[edit] Band members
- Stacy Jones - vocals, guitar, drums
- Jamie Arentzen - guitar, piano and backing vocals
- Drew Parsons - bass and backing vocals
- Jason Sutter - drums
- Brian Nolan - drums (1998-2003) (However, He is currently filling in for Jason Sutter)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Full Length
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Peak Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 |
US Modern Rock |
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| 2001 | "Flavor of the Weak" | #41 | #5 | American Hi-Fi |
| 2001 | "Another Perfect Day" | - | #33 | American Hi-Fi |
| 2003 | "The Art of Losing" | - | #33 | The Art of Losing |
| 2003 | "The Breakup Song" | - | - | The Art of Losing |
| 2005 | "The Geeks Get the Girls" | - | - | Hearts on Parade |
| 2005 | "Hell Yeah!" | - | - | Hearts on Parade |
| 2006 | "The Rescue" | - | #49 | Sound of Superman |
[edit] Non-album tracks
- "Black Satellite" - bonus track on the Japanese version of American Hi-Fi.
- "Still Sideways" - bonus track on the Japanese version of American Hi-Fi.
- "Vertigo" - featured on the American Pie 2 soundtrack
- "When the Breeders Were Big" - bonus track on the Japanese version of The Art of Losing
- "Message in a Bottle" - featured on the Rugrats Go Wild soundtrack.
- "Deceiver" - on the Australian single for The Art of Losing
- "My Soul To Lose" and "Victory Song" - featured on a "Hearts On Parade" EP, given during the Butch Walker vs. AHF tour (July 2004)
- "Dead on the Inside" and "We're Gonna Find a Way" - demos from a free EP given out with preorders of Hearts on Parade.
- "When You Wish Upon A Star" - on Moshpit on Disney
- "The Rescue" - featured on the Sound of Superman album
[edit] External links
One of my fave songs that they sing is flavour of the week
