Rival Schools can’t turn it down. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the legendary post-hardcore band’s formation, Run For Cover records is reissuing a deluxe edition of their 2011 sophomore release Pedals with unreleased b-sides and stripped down bonus tracks. Additionally, Run For Cover is releasing a vinyl reissue of the 2013 “lost” album entitled Found as well as a new variant with classic green cover of the band’s debut United By Fate, which was initially reissued by the label last year to an enthusiastic reception. “I love these records,” says guitarist/vocalist Walter Schreifels. “We made Pedals ten years after United By Fate, so it’s interesting to go back and revisit something—which I’ve done twice with Quicksand—and kind of pick up where you left off. I just really love the songs [on Pedals]. I hadn’t listened to them in a long time and I just like, ‘What was I thinking? These songs are great.’”
“For Pedals, we recorded with this really talented engineer Joel Hamilton (Paul McCartney, Rick Rubin) and I think we were a little tight on budget and we went in one day and recorded 17 songs,” drummer Sam Siegler explains. “Then we went to [guitarist] Ian Love’s studio and finished tracking them. We didn’t want to put all of the songs on the record and ‘You Should Have Hung Out’ was one of those songs for whatever reason we didn’t put on the album that we all really dig. To celebrate the reissue we’re making a video and giving this song a little extra love.” The band is also working on integrating many of the songs from these later eras of Rival Schools into their live sets alongside fan favorites such as “Used For Glue” and “Good Things.” “Some of these songs are just deeper, so we’re going to try to sprinkle them into the sets,” he continues.
Touring on Pedals brought on some highlights for the band’s career, such as performing at Radio City Music Hall and touring with Weezer and the Gaslight Anthem. These experiences introduced Rival Schools to a new audience who had no idea about the fact that the members have performed in some of hardcore’s most influential acts such as Youth Of Today, Judge and CIV. However despite their hardcore pedigree, it’s clear the band—which also includes bassist Cache Tolman and guitarist Ian Love—managed to create something commercially viable with the album that sounds as relevant today as it did when it was originally recorded. Ironically, Found was originally intended to be the demos for the band’s sophomore release and featured current Bush guitarist Chris Traynor on guitar, but the band’s vision for their second release changed between conception and the hiatus that followed. “When we came back to Pedals, we used a copy of the demos that eventually became Found like ‘Sofia Loren’ and ‘Big Waves,’ so even though those versions are different, I think those records are linked,” Schreifels explains.
“We didn’t use a lot of amazing songs from Found on Pedals because we wanted to do something contemporary to where we were at the moment,” Schreifels continues. “So there’s all these songs on Found that are awesome, but we never re-recorded them and I really have to credit Sam with holding on to those songs and really pushing to have them pressed onto a record,” he adds. “We really went for it on United By Fate: We toured quite a bit and did all of the things a band should do on that record, but I would say that Found and Pedals are very underserved and the quality is there on those two albums.” When listening to the fuzzed-out groove of “Choose Your Own Adventure” from Pedals, or post-pop of “Paranoid Detectives,” the hooks on these two albums are undeniable.
Instead of looking backwards, Rival Schools is staying in the present by touring with peers like Thursday and continuing to bring these songs to life on stage each night. “The [other band members] are awesome to play with and our chemistry as people has always been great,” Schreifels responds when asked what it’s like to be performing live these days. “When we were touring behind United By Fate we were doing it professionally, trying to make it in some way and there’s a lot of intensity in that,” he continues. “Now we are doing it because we really enjoy it and want to be with each other and get into it. So because of that chillness, we just have a lot of laughs,” he adds. “Our chemistry has been there for a long time.”
