''30° Everywhere'' is the debut studio album by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
the Promise Ring
The Promise Ring was an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is recognized as part of the second wave of emo. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: '' 30° Everywhere'' ...
. It was released in 1996 on
Jade Tree.
Background
The Promise Ring were formed from the aftermath of several
Midwest emo
Midwest emo (or Midwestern emo) refers to the emo scene and/or subgenre that developed in 1990s Midwestern United States. Employing unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs and arpeggiated melodies, Midwest emo bands shifted away from ...
groups
in February 1995: guitarists Jason Gnewikow and Matt Mangan (both formerly of None Left Standing), and drummer Dan Didier and bassist Scott Beschta (both formerly of Ceilishrine). Mangan moved to Indianapolis soon after the group formed, resulting in them inviting
Cap'n Jazz
Cap'n Jazz (sometimes stylised as caP'n Jazz) was an American emo band formed in Chicago in 1989 by brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella, who were joined by Sam Zurick and Victor Villarreal. After a number of name changes and the addition of guitaris ...
guitarist
Davey von Bohlen
Davey von Bohlen (born August 11, 1975) is an Americans, American musician and songwriter. He is best known for serving as lead vocalist and guitarist of the emo band The Promise Ring and also as guitarist and backing vocalist in short-lived cul ...
[ after he had moved to Milwaukee. He was friends with Gnewikow prior to this, but hadn't met Dider or Beschta before the group formed.][ The band recorded a three-track demo ("Jupiter", "12 Sweaters Red" and "Mineral Point") in early March, and played their first show shortly afterwards.] In June, the group went on a 10-day East Coast tour; after a brief five-day rest, Bohlen went back on tour with Cap'n Jazz to support the release of their debut. After the ninth day of the tour, Cap'n Jazz broke up,[ and Bohlen was able to focus his time on the Promise Ring.][ Bohlen said being in Cap'n Jazz made it easier for the Promise Ring to book tours.]
The band released a 7" vinyl single ("Watertown Plank" and "Mineral Point") through Foresight Records,[ which was owned by a friend of theirs. The band then went on tour, performing in church halls and basements across the US.] While on tour, Texas Is the Reason guitarist Norman Brannon was given a copy of the band's demo and 7" single, and gave them to Jade Tree co-founder Tim Own, who was his roommate.[Greenwald 2003, p. 122] Jade Tree's other co-founder Darren Walters initially scoffed at the tape, thinking it was a joke; he later claimed that " r some reason ..it reminded me of U2." When the band were touring near Walters, he took them out to dinner and promptly signed them.[ After further touring at the start of 1996,][ the ''Falsetto Keeps Time'' EP was released in February, and was followed by a split single with Texas Is the Reason in May. Both releases were successful, with the band continuing to tour and work on material that would feature on their debut album.][
]
Production
According to Bohlen, the album was recorded in five days "in a situation where we had no idea what we wanted to do or how we wanted it to come out." Additionally, Bohlen was ill during the making of it, resulting in issues with his vocals.[ Zac Crainz of the '']Dallas Observer
''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'' claimed the studio "apparently only had enough microphones to record the guitars." Didier later said in retrospect: "it was the wrong recording at the wrong time with the wrong person."[ Casey Rice had recently returned from touring around Europe with ]Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
, and to him, he felt that he was simply recording a punk rock act. Didier added: "So we were all like, 'This is our first record,' so it’s like 'Okay, cool, okay. Whatever. I love Tortoise!' We did that, and then listening back on the way home we were like, 'Fuck.[
Musically, ''30° Everywhere'' has been described as ]emo
Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
[ and ]avant-pop
Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental music, experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener. The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing ele ...
. "A Picture Postcard" details not wanting a partner's love to leave them.
Release and reception
Promotion and touring
The Promise Ring had sold around 4,000 copies of ''30° Everywhere'' on tour prior to its release on September 10, 1996.[ Despite this, the album was an underground success, earning the group attention from independent publications.][ The artwork consists of sepia-tinted double-exposed images, as well as a picture of the band members sitting on a couch.][Greenwald 2003, p. 37] The attention was aided by the inclusion of the emo staple "A Picture Postcard", which had been released earlier on the ''Falsetto Keeps Time'' EP. The band had 500–600 copies of the album to sell over the course of several gigs, however, during one show at CBGB's
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...
, they sold all copies in one go.[ After breaking for the Christmas period, the band went on a six-week US tour with Texas Is the Reason.][ In April and May 1997, the group embarked on a European tour.][ ''30° Everywhere'' was released in Japan in October 1999 through Cutting Edge. The album was re-pressed on vinyl alongside '']Nothing Feels Good
''Nothing Feels Good'' is the second album by American rock band the Promise Ring. The album has gained a cult following, and is frequently regarded as one of the most influential records of the emo genre. The title of the album was used as the n ...
'' (1997) and ''Very Emergency
''Very Emergency'' is the third studio album by American rock band the Promise Ring, released on September 28, 1999 through the label Jade Tree. Following the release of their second studio album ''Nothing Feels Good'' (1997), bassist Scott Bescht ...
'' (1999) in late 2015.
Critical response and legacy
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
reviewer Blake Butler said the band "certainly know how to write sharp, powerful, and beautiful songs."[ Adding that the album was "very catchy, very intense, ndvery powerful."][ Author ]Andy Greenwald
Andy Greenwald (born May 19, 1977) is an American author, critic, podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer.
Life and career
Greenwald grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Friends' C ...
in his book '' Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo'' (2003) wrote that the album was "rough but winning; the only hurdle for prospective listeners is von Bohlen's often off-key warbling".
''30° Everywhere'' sold 12,000 copies by September 1997. It has been cited as one of the popular emo releases from the era,[ serving as both a benchmark and a blueprint for it. '']LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...
'' included the album on their list of the top 20 best emo albums. Bohlen dismissed the album in a 1999 interview with ''Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'', saying he would "never listen to our first record. If we could have put out [''Very Emergency
''Very Emergency'' is the third studio album by American rock band the Promise Ring, released on September 28, 1999 through the label Jade Tree. Following the release of their second studio album ''Nothing Feels Good'' (1997), bassist Scott Bescht ...
''] for our first record, we would have". Gnewikow did not think it was a "very good record", explaining that they had been a band for that long prior to its creation, "we had no business making an album like that then".[
]Man Overboard
"Man overboard!" is an exclamation given aboard a vessel to indicate that a member of the crew or a passenger has fallen off of the ship into the water and is in need of immediate rescue. Whoever sees the person's fall is to shout, "Man overboa ...
included a cover of "Red Paint" on their compilation ''The Human Highlight Reel
''The Human Highlight Reel'' is a compilation album by the American rock band Man Overboard, released on Run for Cover Records on 10 May 2011.
Track listing
# Driveway
# Melanie, Video Games And A Slight Fear Of Flying
# I Saw Behemoth and It Rul ...
'' (2011).
Track listing
Personnel
*Davey von Bohlen
Davey von Bohlen (born August 11, 1975) is an Americans, American musician and songwriter. He is best known for serving as lead vocalist and guitarist of the emo band The Promise Ring and also as guitarist and backing vocalist in short-lived cul ...
– vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
, guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
*Jason Gnewikow – guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
*Scott Beschta – bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*Dan Didier – drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
*Rachel Dietkus – violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
on tracks 9 & 12
*Casey Rice - engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
*Tim Owen & Scott Beschta – photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
''30° Everywhere''
at YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
(streamed copy where licensed)
{{DEFAULTSORT:30 Everywhere
1996 debut albums
The Promise Ring albums
Jade Tree (record label) albums
Avant-pop albums