''Return of the Rentals'' is the debut studio album by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

The Rentals The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...

, released on October 31, 1995, through

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

and Reprise Records. The album features

Matt Sharp Matthew Kelly Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American songwriter and musician. Until 1998, he was the bassist for the alternative rock band Weezer, which he cofounded in 1992. He appears on their first two albums, the '' Blue Album'' (199 ...

—

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

's bassist at the time—on

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 withou ...

and bass, as well as Weezer drummer

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

.''Return of the Rentals'' booklet and

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

''Return of the Rentals'' was well received by critics and produced the successful single "Friends of P.", which peaked at number 7 on '' Billboard''s Modern Rock Tracks chart and received significant airplay on MTV's '' 120 Minutes''. Despite this, the album only managed to reach number 19 on the ''Billboard''

Heatseeker Albums Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...

chart, and by 1999 the album had sold 96,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In a 2019

Reddit AMA r/IAmA is a subreddit for question-and-answer interactive interviews termed "AMA" (short for "Ask Me Anything"). AMA interviewees have ranged from various celebrities to everyday people in several lines of work. Founded in May 2009, the subredd ...

, Matt Sharp revealed that the artwork and the

master tapes Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via me ...

of ''Return of the Rentals'' have either been lost or destroyed by the record label, meaning a reissue of the album is unlikely.

Background

The "P" in the track "Friends of P." has had multiple theories presented as to its meaning. The actual "P" in the song refers to

Paulina Porizkova Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, ; 9 April 1965) is a Swedish model. Born in Czechoslovakia and raised in Sweden, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit issu ...

, the wife of The Cars guitarist

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...

, who produced the first

album, known as '' The Blue Album''.Luerssen D., John. ''Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story''. ECW Press, 2004, p. 163 Porizkova made a claim that no one had ever written a song about her, and so Sharp took on the task. Ocasek noted that he found the subject matter of the song a bit odd. Fictitious theories suggest that "P" refers to the

Psychic Friends Network The Psychic Friends Network (PFN) was a telephone psychic service operating in the United States in the 1990s. The company's infomercials were aired frequently on late night television at that time. In 2012, the business began to migrate to on ...

or Patrick Wilson, who played drums for both The Rentals and Weezer. "Please Let That Be You" was originally written by Sharp and

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

as a song called "Mrs. Young", a spiritual counterpart to Weezer's song "Jamie". On one demo, Rivers Cuomo helps Sharp, doing extra instrumentation and backup vocals. At one point, Weezer considered recording both "Jamie" with "Mrs. Young" (later written as "Please Let That Be You" without Rivers Cuomo but instead with Rachel Haden) as its B-side for a single, but this never happened.

Review

''Return of the Rentals'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' claimed, "Its winsome love songs make for good, clean, disposable fun." '' Q'' compared the Rentals' work to the early work of

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes ( keyboard ...

: "The Rentals root themselves in the sound of late-’70s US new wave; the result is in many senses reminiscent of The Cars' earlier material." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote that "despite its pretensions to emeaningless electro-pop, it can't help but have depth". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

''s Ryan Schreiber enjoyed the band's attempt to bring back

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

s. In a retrospective review, Peter D'Angelo of

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 ...

praised the album, saying, "''Return of the Rentals'' is a real benchmark of carefree pop from the '90s, and shouldn't be forgotten anytime soon."

Legacy

"Waiting" appeared in the 1997 horror anthology film '' Campfire Tales''. The song plays in a character's bedroom during the film's third segment, titled "People Can Lick Too". In 2006, the

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complem ...

covered "The Love I'm Searching For" on

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

's ''The Interface'' podcast. In 2008,

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

covered "Please Let That Be You" for the album ''Friends of P. -- Tribute to The Rentals''. "Friends of P." was covered by

Tokyo Police Club Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consists of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with the ...

on their album ''Elephant Shell Remixes'' and sampled by Girl Talk on his 2006 album ''

Night Ripper ''Night Ripper'' is the third studio album by American musician Gregg Gillis, released under his stage name Girl Talk on May 9, 2006 by Illegal Art. It is a mashup album primarily composed of samples taken from other artists' music, while al ...

''.

Tera Melos Tera Melos is an American math rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2004. They incorporate many styles of rock, ambient electronics and unconventional song structures. They are currently a three-piece, consisting of guitarist/keyboard ...

guitarist Nick Reinhart uploaded a cover of the track "These Days" to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

Track listing

Personnel

The Rentals *

– vocals, bass, additional Moog synthesizer, additional guitar *

Cherielynn Westrich Cherielynn Westrich (born January 21, 1966) is an American politician from the state of Iowa. Westrich was born in Missouri in 1966. She resides in Ottumwa, Iowa Ottumwa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United Sta ...

– vocals *

– drums *

Petra Haden Petra Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She is the daughter of the jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and is the triplet sister of bassist Rachel Haden (her bandmate in That Dog) and cellist Tanya Haden (married to ...

– viola, harmony vocals *Rod Cervera – guitar *Tom Grimley – Moog synthesizer,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Additional personnel *Jim Richards – Moog synthesizer on "Please Let That Be You" *

Rachel Haden Rachel Haden (born October 11, 1971 in New York City) is an American musician and one of the triplet daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden. In the early 1990s, Haden played bass guitar for That Dog, a band that also included her sister Petra. ...

– vocals on "Move On" Production * Stephen Marcussen – mastering Artwork *

Guy Oseary Guy Harley Oseary ( he, גיא עוזרי; born October 3, 1972) is an Israeli-American talent manager and writer. His clients include Madonna, U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Biography Guy Oseary was born on October 3, 1972, in Jerusale ...

– album artwork

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Return Of The Rentals 1995 debut albums The Rentals albums Maverick Records albums