The All-American Rejects

Ritter and Wheeler developed the project in Stillwater, Oklahoma, before the self-titled album appeared through Doghouse in 2002 and received a wider DreamWorks release in 2003. Swing, Swing and The Last Song established a concise sound in which guitars, keyboards and programmed details could all help define the hook.

Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor became part of the established band, giving the live and recording identity a more complete instrumental shape. The songs could sound polished without becoming emotionally smooth. Ritter's delivery often retained a restless or slightly strained quality, making a large chorus feel like something being pushed out of an awkward situation rather than simply displayed for its melodic appeal.

Move Along arrived in 2005, with Dirty Little Secret, It Ends Tonight and the title track providing three different routes into the album. The title song uses repetition and rhythmic insistence to make encouragement feel physical, while It Ends Tonight allows a slower arrangement to carry the tension.

When the World Comes Down followed in 2008, led by Gives You Hell. Its cheerful, almost communal refrain delivers a much less generous sentiment than the surface initially suggests, a contrast the band handles with particular relish. Across the first three albums, that disagreement between an attractive tune and a more troubled speaker gives the records character beyond the obvious craft of an effective pop-rock single.