Something Corporate

by Jason Birchmeier
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 bandmembers were barely out of high school when the esteemed Cali indie punk label Drive-Thru signed them, 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 -- a marketable sound that MCA recognized just before connecting with the band for a debut EP, Audioboxer. Released in late 2001, Audioboxer featured only six songs 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.
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. Their summer-tinged debut full-length, Leaving Through the Window, shared both logos and appeared in spring 2002. Subsequent touring followed before their somewhat darker sophomore effort, North, was issued in October 2003.
Guitarist William Tell amicably left the group in early 2004 to work on solo material, shortly before Something Corporate headed out on a nationwide co-headlining tour with Yellowcard. Bob Anderson (formerly of River City High) replaced Tell on the tour; a live DVD, Live at the Ventura Theater, was next released in November 2004. Aside from playing plenty of shows, McMahon also took time out to work on his solo project, Jack's Mannequin. The debut Mannequin record came out in late summer 2005, but a supporting tour was canceled after McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June. Touring for both bands was then put on hold while he went through treatment; by the year's end, he had recovered from a successful bone marrow transplant from his sister. McMahon then turned his attention to the Jack's Mannequin project, touring in support of their debut album, Everything in Transit, which had broken into the Billboard Top 40.