Depending on whom you talk to and what you read, the All-American Rejects sound like a lot of different groups; some rock, some pop, some punk. Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter, the founding members and songwriters of the Rejects, don’t bother paying too much attention to those types of reviews, but not because they don’t care.

“It’s funny that half the bands they say we sound like, we’ve never even heard of or listened to,” Nick says, speaking to andPOP on a recent tour stop in Toronto. “Honestly, I heard when we were making the album, people would come in and hear the mixes and say, ‘sounds like The Cars.’ To tell you the truth, I never bought a Cars record until after somebody said that.”

Tyson, the vocalist and bassist, calls the sound of their self-titled debut album “power pop rock.” Since its February release, it has gone Gold in the U.S.

“It’s melody driven, but the stuff behind it is definitely rock,” adds Nick, who plays guitar, drums and keyboard.

The first single off the album, “Swing, Swing,” was recorded as somewhat of an afterthought, and it was one of the last songs that they wrote.

“We were just trying to crank out songs to finish our album, because we were actually scheduled to go and record it in the winter of last year with Doghouse Records,” says Nick. “We only had like five or six songs when they signed us. We had to finish the rest of the album.”

The Rejects credit radio with turning the song into a success.

“What’s great is that on the single, there’s no payola,” says Tyson. “People were happy to play music again. We didn’t have to buy anybody off to get this on the radio, which is how 98 percent of it is now.”

When they recorded the album for the independent Doghouse label, they had no money, almost no budget, and they slept on their producer’s floor. They lost 20 pounds during the recording process, which isn’t that bad considering their diet consisted of granola and yogurt everyday. They signed with Dreamworks, who re-released the album, and the biggest change with signing to major label was the food.

“We’re eating fast food and drinking beer, so we’re still not eating very well,” says Nick.

“But we’re eating more,” says Tyson.

The Rejects have been touring all over, even playing an MTV gig with 50 Cent. When Nick called his mother to tell her about 50 Cent, she needed little explaining.

“I’m like ‘we’re playing with this new rapper; he’s the new hip thing. His name is 50 Cent.’ She’s like, ‘I know, I watch TRL everyday.’ Our sound guy Dave got to meet him. He got his autograph on a dollar bill.”

Nick’s mother never let him watch MTV as a kid, but she watched it now in hopes of seeing her son.

They have a few songs recorded for their next album, but they won’t be recording it for a while. They will be touring like madmen, jumping on the Warped Tour this summer and headlining a tour in the fall.

As for their name: “I think that was a lyric on one of our songs,” explains Nick. “‘The All-American? What do we finish it with?’ And [Tyson] said ‘Rejects,’ and it just stuck. By the time we were writing this album, we were like, ‘alright, this is for real, what’s our name?’ We just said it enough, it doesn’t sound so fun anymore, so we kept it.”

Adds Tyson, “Nobody gets us, but we’re just there, having a good time.”






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