North (Something Corporate album)

Background

After finalising their line-up, Something Corporate began performing at local venues, eventually gaining support slots for groups such as Better Than Ezra and Sugar Ray. Shortly afterwards, the band signed to independent label Drive-Thru Records. Drive-Thru Records had a distribution deal with major label MCA Records, which allowed the latter to upstream bands from the former. The band's debut album Leaving Through the Window, released in early 2002, was a joint release between Drive-Thru and MCA Records. In mid-2003, MCA Records was absorbed by UMG label Geffen Records, which resulted in MCA's staff and roster being moved to Geffen. At the time, guitarist Josh Partington said: "[You] can't worry about things that are out of your control ... I can't do anything about it so you just keep doing what you're doing."

Composition

Early in the writing process, vocalist/pianist Andrew McMahon and Partington had discussions on what they wanted the album to sound like. They decided they wanted it to "sound like a winter album", in contrast to Leaving Through the Window which they felt sounded like a "summer album". Partington elaborated: "We really wanted it to feel, not sad and somber really but just kind of have a broody feeling." McMahon and Partington wrote songs separately. Partington had written six songs on the album before entering the studio. While touring Europe, the US went to war in Iraq. According to Partington, the group did not "want to be playing a show when there's something so much more important going on." As a result, the band cancelled the remainder of the tour, and returned to the US. Partington recalled that he and McMahon did "a lot of writing" together, and were "really happy with the songs we had" going into the studio.

"As You Sleep", "Down", "Me and the Moon", "Ruthless", "She Paints Me Blue", "Break Myself", "21 and Invincible", "Miss America" and "Watch the Sky" were credited to McMahon. "Space", "Only Ashes", "The Runaway" and "I Won't Make You" were credited to Partington. Paul Buckmaster arranged and played the cello, alongside Larry Corbett on "Me and the Moon" and "The Runaway". Alternative Addiction wrote that the group mixed "piano melodies with rocking guitars creating the 'melodic punk' sound" that was also on their debut.

Production

The group would typically record an album in their home state of California. However, after constant touring, the band lost focus as Partington explained: "When you're away for a year touring straight, whenever you're home whether you're working or not your mind is like 'yes I'm at home.'" The group decided that to help them focus, they would record in Seattle, Washington. On May 5, it was announced that the band was in the studio recording their next album at Robert Lang Studios/TMF with producer Jim Wirt. Wirt and Phil Kaffel acted as engineers, with Justin Armstrong as a secondary engineer with assistance from Geoff Ott. Two days of the recording process consisted of Partington in the live room, tracking one-take run-throughs of each song on guitar. With this approach, Partington improvised a lot of the parts, which yielded "lots of results."

On June 23, the band announced they were close to finishing recording. On the same day, the group worked on rough mixes of "Space" and "21 and Invincible" with Kaffel. The following Sunday, the band went to Los Angeles, California for a week to make sure "everything [was] finished and that we didn't forget anything." Further recording was done at 4th Street Recording in Santa Monica, California, with assistance from engineers Neil Couper, P.J. Smith and Jon Scholl. Smith also contributed additional background vocals. Kaffel and Wirt mixed the recordings at Interscope Studios in Santa Monica, with assistance from engineer Neal Ferrazzani. Further mixing was performed at Skip Saylor Recording in Los Angeles, with assistance from engineer James Mugshorn. Vlado Meller mastered the recordings at Sony Mastering in New York.

Release

On July 12, 2003, North was announced for release. From mid-July to early September, the band supported 311 on their tour of the US. "Space" was released as a single on September 8, and released to radio a day later. A music video for the song was premiered by Fox Broadcasting Company on September 16. The video, directed by Mike Piscitelli, was filmed in August during the band's tour with 311. It featured five pillars, all of them fitted with video monitors, placed in various locations within Los Angeles, such as in an alleyway or at a bus stop. In September, the band supported Good Charlotte on their arena tour of the US. North was released on October 21 through Geffen and Drive-Thru Records. The UK version of the album included "Watch the Sky" and a cover of Bjork's "Unravel" as bonus tracks.

Around North's release, the band was featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as well as appearing on MTV2 programmes New Faces of Rock and Advanced Warning. From late October to early December 2004, the band went on a headlining tour across the US with support from Rx Bandits, Mae and Days Away. In January 2004, "Ruthless" was released as a radio single. On February 1, it was announced that guitarist William Tell had left the band to focus on his own music. Bobby Anderson of River City High took over Tell's position. The group had previously toured with River City High and looked up to Anderson. Partington called him "a great player, [and] a really good singer." The band performed a handful of shows later in the month. In March and April, the band went on a co-headlining US tour with Yellowcard, with support from Steriogram and the Format.

Critical response

North received a positive reception from critics. AllMusic reviewer Andrew Leahey wrote that McMahon traded "shunning the drunk high school girls and classroom bullies" on their debut for "thoughtful ruminations on love, celebrity, and the steady approach of adulthood." Leahey noted that while the album contained "some filler ... probably more than the band's debut," North showed that the group had the "maturity to move past the majority of their Warped Tour brethren." Alternative Addiction wrote that upon hearing the first chord, fans would "immediately recognize" McMahon's growth as a songwriter. Kaj Roth of Melodic wrote that, despite a year passing since the group's previous album, it was "enough to grow at least 10 years in life experience," noting that the album featured "smart/intelligent" Third Eye Blind-esque rock songs. Roth pondered if McMahon listened to Vanessa Carlton, since he pushed the songs "one step further into an adorable trip of melodic euphoria."

The Phoenix writer Sean Richardson wrote that with North, the band "continue to prove themselves one of the most tuneful outfits in modern rock." Richardson noted that halfway into the album, when the songs' "middling tempos start to bleed together," the group sounds "as if they were striving for a level of maturity that’s not quite within reach." Punknews.org reviewer Adam White called it "a more solemn and paced record," compared to their debut. White noted that it featured "lots of contemplative ballads," all of which "showcas[e] Andrew MacMahon's characteristic piano and smooth vocals." Kristin Roth of Rolling Stone wrote that album "delves into an entirely different world" with its lyrics "explor[ing] a darker place, but just what that place is, it's hard to say."

Commercial performance and legacy

North charted at number 24 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 41,000 copies in its first week of release. It also charted at number 152 in the UK. "Space" charted at number 37 on the Alternative Songs chart. By March 2004, the album had sold 222,000 copies. By March 2005, the album had sold 330,000 copies in the US, and by June, album sales stood at 339,000 copies. Looking back in 2010, Partington said the group were "frustrated" with the album's lack of success: "We had put in all this hard work and we were doing everything we could, but it felt like certain parts of the whole machine weren’t necessarily working in our favor." To celebrate the album's 10th anniversary, it was released on vinyl for the first time in November 2013 through independent label Enjoy the Ride Records. What Culture ranked it at number 13 in their 15 Greatest Pop Punk Albums of the 2000s list.

Track listing

Track listing per booklet.

Bonus tracks

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.