Cute Is What We Aim For

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Cute Is What We Aim For
(L-R) Czum, Hacikyan, Cimato, Falcone
Origin	Buffalo, New York, USA
Years active	2005–present
Genres	Rock, power pop
Labels	Fueled by Ramen
Members	Shaant Hacikyan Jeff Czum Jack Marin Tom Falcone

Cute Is What We Aim For is a four-piece power pop band, formed in 2005 in Buffalo, New York and signed to Fueled by Ramen. In 2006, the band released their Billboard 200-charting debut album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch.

1 History
2 Members
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Cute Is What We Aim For is a horribly gay band that was formed in January 2005 as a side-project by Cherry Bing singer Shaant Hacikyan and lead guitarist Jeff Czum, along with cousins and A New Hope members Fred Cimato and Tom Falcone on rhythm guitar and the drum kit, respectively. The band's name originated in a telephone conversation between Cimato and Hacikyan, in which the singer used the phrase in search of a "cute" band name ("cute" had become his trademark expression in high school as a synonym for "cool").^[1]^[2] Laying to rest their previous endeavors' ska and pop punk notions, the quartet created a lyrically accentuated brand of power pop, that relies heavily on such poetic devices as alliteration, assonance, pun and metaphor, vocalized over radio-friendly clean guitar harmonies.

The group was tainted with drama from the start: When they decided to devote themselves fully to Cute Is What We Aim For, parting ways with their other bands was anything but amicable. Cherry Bing's remaining members in particular were sunk in heated disputes and allegations (partly taken out on their website), with fans and the band members themselves blaming Hacikyan for the demise of the group. Despite their efforts to start anew and to have their musicianship speak for itself, Cute Is What We Aim For was continuously criticized for their past engagements, their band name, their ethics, or their frontman's prospects of winning a Kenny Vasoli look-alike contest.^[3] Nevertheless, the band managed to rapidly build a devoted fanbase. A considerable amount of the band's swift success is thanks to Absolutepunk.net, who highlighted them in a section called "Absolutely Unsigned" and constantly reported about the up-and-coming band.

However, the constant drama surrounding the band was further fueled when the band fired their manager, who accused them of unethical business practices,^[4] and underwent several line-up changes: In an effort to compensate for the absence of temporary bassist Don Arthur at a concert, Cimato permanently swapped his six-string for a bass guitar, while rhythm guitarist Chris Flury completed the quintet in November 2005.^[1] Although already suspected by fans due to several indications on the band's part, on November 29, 2005, their signing with Fueled by Ramen was official announced. Shortly thereafter, another line-up change occurred, when Flury and the band mutually agreed to part ways. While Flury focused on his newly-formed band Settings, Cute Is What We Aim For went on as a four-piece.

With a continuous plethora of hearsay trailing the band, the forums at Absolutepunk.net served as a hotbed for such rumors and bias — often encouraged or even chimed in by the website's founder Jason Tate, who (after one of Absolutepunk's staff members asked for questions to be forwarded to the band in an interview for the website) openly harassed the band and its members, accusing them of being marketing marionettes of their label and excessively using Auto-Tune on their debut album, among other things. Hacikyan and the album's producer, Matt Squire, admitted to using Auto-Tune but denied the other allegations in the following Absolutepunk interview.^[5]^[6]

On June 20, 2006, Cute Is What We Aim For's debut album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch hit store shelves, debuting at #75 on the Billboard 200. With 13,651 in first week sales, the album broke the label's internal record set by Panic! at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005) by almost 4,000 copies.^[7] As of July 2006, the album has sold 28,947 units.^[8] The Academy Is...'s William Beckett lent his vocal talents to the album's first single "There's a Class for This", which openly addresses the band's ever-surrounding drama (culminating in the song's chorus "Drama doesn't follow me, it rides on my back/I may be ugly, but they sure love to stare"). The music video directed by Jay Martin premiered on mtvU on July 17, 2006.