On their way to selling more than two million copies of the 2003 CD "Ocean Avenue," the guys in Yellowcard also gathered more than their share of detractors.
A regular presence on Radio Disney and pop radio, Yellowcard was dissed during the 2004 Warped tour for its sugary high-energy sound, with Guttermouth singer Mark Adkins rather famously taking the time onstage to label Yellowcard "kiddy punk."
The members of Yellowcard obviously heard such comments. And while violinist Sean Mackin said he wasn't hurt by the criticisms, he made a point during a recent interview to voice his respect for punk and point out that Yellowcard never courted the pop-punk label in the first place.
"We're such big fans of the last real movement of punk rock in southern California, NOFX and Fat Records bands and Epitaph bands, that we didn't claim that we were punk rock," Mackin said. "We never said that we were punk rock. I feel like we inadvertently, because of maybe similar musical influences and youthful sort of style of look or whatever, we were put in the middle of that."
Nevertheless, getting away from the punk-pop niche became a priority for Yellowcard, and with the new studio CD, "Lights and Sounds," the band just might transcend such narrow categorization.
On "Lights and Sounds," Yellowcard has made a pop-rock CD that has more in common with the classic power pop of Cheap Trick than the punk-pop of Good Charlotte or Green Day.
A starting point for the shift can be heard on the title song. It rocks with authority, but it evades the punk realm with its hugely melodic pure pop chorus.
The shift toward a more universal pop sound becomes even more obvious with other songs; "Sure Thing Falling" and "Down on My Head" are among several richly melodic rockers that work a mid-tempo territory that isn't even vaguely punk.
The ballads on "Lights and Sounds" also go a long way to separate Yellowcard from its punkier past.
Another major departure is the ballad "Two Weeks from Twenty" (a fictional tale of a soldier killed in Iraq) that has some decidedly jazzy elements in its melancholy sound.
The transformation began in early 2005, when singer/guitarist Ryan Key and bassist/keyboardist Pete Mosely relocated from Los Angeles to New York City. Mackin, drummer Longineu Parsons III and guitarist Benjamin Harper made periodic visits. Though the recording went well, the band underwent one major change, with Harper leaving and Ryan Mendez stepping in.
Yellowcard performs Saturday at Bumbershoot.
