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American Hi-Fi

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American Hi-Fi
OriginBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
GenresPop punk,[1], alternative rock, punk rock, power pop[2]
Years active1998–present
LabelsHi-Fi Killers/RED Distribution, Original Sound, Island, Maverick
MembersStacy Jones, Jamie Arentzen, Drew Parsons, Brian Nolan
Past membersJason Sutter
Websitewww.americanhi-fi.com

American Hi-Fi is an American pop punk band from Los Angeles, California, which originally hailed from Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2] The band consists of vocalist Stacy Jones, guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons, and drummer Brian Nolan.[3] Prior to the group's formation, Stacy Jones was well-known for being a drummer in the successful alternative rock bands Veruca Salt and Letters to Cleo.[2] American Hi-Fi has a close relationship with Miley Cyrus, whose band shares three quarters of the same members as American Hi-Fi.[4] The group has a mixed musical style that includes influences from pop punk, alternative rock, and power pop.[2]

The group issued its eponymous debut album in 2001, which led to their hit single "Flavor of the Weak". After successful touring, they released the live album Rock N' Roll Noodle Shop: Live from Tokyo and then the full album The Art of Losing, in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The group was dropped from their label, Island Records, and they then moved to Los Angeles to remake their production and sound. Working with veteran music producer Butch Walker, they released Hearts on Parade in 2005. The band has toured since to a widespread fan base in Japan and in the U.S.[2]

History

Formation, self-titled album and The Art of Losing (1998–2003)

Guitarist Jamie Arentzen, pictured in December 2007

American Hi-Fi initially formed under the name BMX Girl,[5] and Jones changed to a name personally suggested to him by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.[1]

American Hi-Fi's released self-titled debut album through Island Records on February 27, 2001. It was an Allmusic 'Album Pick'. Critic Mario Mesquita Borges praised it and stated that "[t]he future of rock & roll is surely guaranteed with acts such as American Hi-Fi." The album reached #81 on the The Billboard 200 list and #1 on the Heatseekers list. The band also achieved a commercial breakthrough through their debut single, "Flavor of the Weak", which ran up the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, the Billboard Hot 100, and other charts followed by Another Perfect Day which peaked 33 in Modern Rock Charts.I'm a fool was the Soundtrack taken for Van Wilder.[6]

In February 2003, the band released their second studio album, The Art of Losing. The album featured the successful singles "The Art of Losing" and "The Breakup Song" which made the band famous. The album was produced by producer Nick Launay, who worked with such artists as Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd. and Silverchair and peaked 80 on Billboard. It is when the album failed to reach the success of the band's first album, that the band was dropped by Island Records.

Hearts on Parade and label troubles (2004–2006)

In early 2004 and without a backing label, the band headed to Los Angeles, to begin work on a new album with producer Butch Walker. The album, Hearts on Parade, was released in Japan on July 14, 2004. Around this time, Nolan had quit the band to focus on being a father, and was replaced by Jason Sutter.

In 2005, American Hi-Fi were signed by Maverick Records, a division of Island. Maverick helped promote the lead single from Hearts on Parade, "The Geeks Get the Girls", releasing it as a single for radio airplay and following with a music video in February 2005. American release of the full album was repeatedly delayed, finally occurring on April 12, 2005, almost a year after the initial release in Japan. Neither single released with the album broke into the Billboard Modern Rock charts. Fans complained that the new album was too pop. Maverick dropped the band in autumn 2005 citing poor record sales.

In the winter of 2005, Playtone Records began seeking submissions for the Superman Returns soundtrack. The band submitted a demo, "The Rescue", which had been recorded for Hearts on Parade but was cut from the album. "The Rescue" was selected for the soundtrack and ran in promotions for the film. "The Rescue" also received frequent radio airplay into the spring of 2006, but did not result in a new record contract for the band.

Fight the Frequency and creation of Hi-Fi Killers label (2006–present)

Lead singer Stacy Jones, pictured in December 2007

In December 2006, Parsons and Jones met for plans for a follow-up album, the plans were put on hold due to Jones' busy schedule and Arentzen's plans to join Butch Walker's touring band in Spring 2007.

In April 2007, American Hi-Fi announced that the band would record their fourth record in May 2007. Soon after, former drummer Brian Nolan re-joined the band for their follow up and will stay in the band until further notice.

On January 8, 2008, American Hi-Fi released two new tracks on their MySpace page, both unfinished mixes off their upcoming fourth album. "Keep It Like a Secret" was the first track released followed by "A Taste for Crime". Frontman Stacy Jones described the new album as sounding "...a little like Elliott Smith partying with the Foo Fighters at a kegger with My Bloody Valentine and Superdrag".[7] The band also released eight demos, a few of which were recorded live in the studio sans overdubs on their MySpace page including "Fight the Frequency", "Frat Chump", "Acetate", "Bullet", "This Is a Low", "Recover the Stars", "Lost" and "Where Love Is a Lie".

On December 4, 2008, Drew Parsons was interviewed about the band and its upcoming fourth record. Parsons talked about the struggles with their past two labels; Island Records and Maverick Records. He also pointed out that they had signed with Original Sound records and would be releasing a new record in April/May 2009. "The record is complete," says Parsons, "but now it comes down to selecting the songs that will make it on the record".[8] However, later in the year, the band had decided not to go through with plans on Original Sound.

The record was released on August 17, 2010.[9]

According to Stacy Jones in a recent interview, the band has created their own record label "Hi-Fi Killers/The Ascot Club" (through Megafice/RED/Sony) as a means of the band owning their music and to have more input and control for the overall direction and promotion of the band's releases.

In July 2010 the band released a new music video for the new single "Lost" as well as an EP on iTunes containing four songs, "Lost", "This is a Low", "Where Love is a Lie" and "A Taste for Crime". As well as a new fully developed website.

The album "Fight The Frequncy" was released in August 2010, but had very little touring to support the effort.

Band members

Current members
  • Stacy Jones - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, drums (1998–present)
  • Jamie Arentzen - lead guitar (1998–present)
  • Drew Parsons - bass, vocals (1998–present)
  • Brian Nolan - drums, percussion (1998–2004, 2007–present)
Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
[10] 		FRA
[11] 		UK
[12]
2001 American Hi-Fi 81 — 83
2003 The Art of Losing 80 135 117
2005 Hearts on Parade 129 — —
2010 Fight the Frequency
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Live albums

Year Album details
2002 Rock N' Roll Noodle Shop: Live From Tokyo
2005 Live in Milwaukee

Singles

Year Song Peak chart positions Album
US
[13] 		US
Alt.
[14] 		US
Adult
[13] 		AUS
[15] 		NLD
[16] 		NZL
[17] 		UK
[12]
2001 "Flavor of the Weak" 41 5 35 64[18] 93 46 31 American Hi-Fi
"Another Perfect Day" — 33 — — — — —
2003 "The Art of Losing" — 33 — — — — 75 The Art of Losing
"The Breakup Song" — — — — — — —
2004 "The Geeks Get the Girls" — — — — — — — Hearts on Parade
2005 "Hell Yeah!" — — — — — — —
2006 "The Rescue" — — — — — — — Sound of Superman
2010 "Lost" — — — — — — — Fight the Frequency
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Non-album tracks

  • "Black Satellite" – bonus track on the Japanese and UK 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.
  • "The Rescue" – featured on the Sound of Superman album
  • "Transformers Theme" – Not in film; single available on Yahoo Music Unlimited (3 July 2007)
  • "Art of Losing (Clean Radio Version)" – featured on the "Freaky Friday" soundtrack. The line "fuck you" is replaced with "1, 2" and the line "Can't you see, it's killing me, I'm my own worst enemy" was altered with the "it's killing me" section silenced.

References

  1. ^ a b c "American Hi-Fi". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved December 24, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e Wilson, MacKenzie. "American Hi-Fi". Allmusic. Retrieved December 24, 2009.
  3. ^ "American Hi-Fi - Biography". Rolling Stone - Retrieved by the Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Carioli, Carly (November 11, 2009). "American Hi-Fi covers Miley Cyrus's "The Climb"". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved December 24, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Bonazelli, Andrew (March 28, 2001). "CD Reviews". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved December 24, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Borges, Mario Mesquita. "American Hi-Fi - American Hi-Fi". Allmusic. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  7. ^ "American Hi-Fi Posts New Songs - News Article". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  8. ^ Boissaye, Tony. "Teenage Alien Nation Fan site", Interview, 2008.
  9. ^ US. "American Hi-Fi | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  10. ^ "American Hi-Fi > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  11. ^ Steffen Hung. "Discographie American Hi-Fi". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  12. ^ a b Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: A – Azzido Da Bass". Zobbel. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  13. ^ a b "American Hi-Fi > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  14. ^ "American Hi-Fi Album & Song Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  15. ^ Steffen Hung. "Discography American Hi-Fi". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  16. ^ Steffen Hung (2001-08-18). "Discografie American Hi-Fi". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  17. ^ Steffen Hung (2001-07-15). "Discography American Hi-Fi". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  18. ^ "Pandora Archive" (PDF). Pandora.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
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