''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 Wale ...
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° Every ...
. 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) is a subgenre and scene of emo music that emerged in the Midwestern United States during the 1990s. Employing unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs and arpeggiated melodies, Midwest emo bands shift ...
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) is an American emo band from Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
History
Brothers Tim Kinsella and Mike Kinsella formed the band Toe Jam with Victor Villarreal, and Sam Zurick, in 1989, before eventually ...
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 for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...
, 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 genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...
[ and ]avant-pop
Avant-pop is popular music that is 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 elements from popular ...
. "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 the East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Country, Bluegrass, Blue ...
, 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'' (1997) and '' Very Emergency'' (1999) in late 2015.
]
Critical response and legacy
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
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 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. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'' 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 r ...
'', saying he would "never listen to our first record. If we could have put out Very Emergency''">' Very Emergency''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 fall is to shout, "Man overboar ...
included a cover of "Red Paint" on their compilation '' The Human Highlight Reel'' (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 art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
, guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
*Jason Gnewikow – guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
*Scott Beschta – bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
*Dan Didier – drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
*Rachel Dietkus – violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
on tracks 9 & 12
*Casey Rice - engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
*Tim Owen & Scott Beschta – photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating 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 empl ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
''30° Everywhere''
at YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
(streamed copy where licensed)
{{DEFAULTSORT:30 Everywhere
1996 debut albums
The Promise Ring albums
Jade Tree (record label) albums
Avant-pop albums