ARTIST: Jacks Mannequin
TITLE: Everything In Transit
LABEL: Maverick
GENRE: Punk
BITRATE: 234kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 45min total
RELEASE DATE: 2005-08-23
RIP DATE: 2005-08-17

Track List

01. Holiday From Real               2:58
02. The Mixed Tape                  3:14
03. Bruised                         4:02
04. I'm Ready                       3:55
05. La La Lie                       3:55
06. Dark Blue                       4:12
07. Miss Delaney                    3:44
08. Kill The Messenger              3:24
09. Rescued                         3:55
10. MFEO                            8:01
11. Into The Airwaves               4:07

Release Notes:

He's the ethereal voice, songwriting powerhouse and full-contact keyboardist
behind Something Corporate, the piano-rock quintet praised by one critic for
its "combination of intelligent lyrics, infectious melodies and killer
piano." Now Andrew McMahon is taking something of a spring break from the
band with which he's practically lived for the last four years in order to
offer up an angst-flavored side project. In the guise of Jack's Mannequin
comes Everything in Transit, a highly personal theme album by McMahon and
collaborators, due for a August 2005 release on Maverick Records. It's clear
that, like his longtime band, McMahon's latest venture defies an easy
pigeonhole.

"I recorded and toured with Something Corporate right out of high school. We
did three records in three years and I've hardly been home," he says. The
result was the breakup of a three-year relationship and a floodtide of
"dozens of songs in a matter of months," McMahon channeling a slurry of
emotions into songs set amidst the iconic landscape and vibe of Southern
California. "I just wanted to get things off my chest. I wasn't planning to
do anything with these songs except record them," says McMahon, who changed
his mind after hearing them take shape collectively. McMahon actually paid
for the production out of his own pocket leading up to his record deal,
which was inked after 75% of the album was recorded.

With Something Corporate on break, McMahon looked to bring the best of his
songs together into a concept album exploring his alienating return to the
hometown he left to pursue his music, and the dissolution of a long,
meaningful relationship because of it. He brought his signature piano and
distinctive tenor to the project, with vocals, bass and guitar offered by
Something Corporate producer Jim Wirt, a friend and collaborator. McMahon
and Wirt produced the album, which also features Bobby (Raw) Anderson on
guitar, and Patrick Warren (who's worked with Fiona Apple, Macy Gray and
Jon Brion) with organ, strings and arrangements. M÷tley Crⁿe's Tommy Lee
supplied live drums to complement samples by CJ Eiriksson, who also served
as the album's engineer.

Inspired by such theme albums as The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Everything in
Transit weaves an autobiographical tale reflected in the storybook written
into its liner notes. It begins with the laid-back, bohemian California mood
of "Holiday from Real," with McMahon coming home and feeling like a visitor
in his own world. "The Mixed Tape" offers bursts of punk-flavored riffs
along with lyrics such as "I read your letter, the one you left when you
broke into my house... where are you now?", segueing into the wistful
"Lonely for Her." The album's emotional duality is shown in the hopeful and
upbeat "I'm Ready," followed by the sullen "Kill the Messenger."

McMahon's tribute to The Beach Boys is best heard on the sad-yet-sunny "Miss
Delaney," an electronica-flavored pop nugget with a synthesized theremin
reminiscent of "Good Vibrations." The disco flagellation of "Bruised"
tumbles "Into the Airwaves," McMahon's otherworldly tenor drawing a
fatalistic analogy: "I am slipping through, I am slipping into the airwaves
/ You are slipping through my fingers and into the airwaves."

Everything in Transit eases into acceptance with its final triptych of
songs: the ballad "Rescued," McMahon's examination of his place in the world
in "Made for Each Other," and its denouement "You Can Breathe." McMahon has
breathed the distinct smell of success since the 2001 debut of Audioboxer by
the alternative-rock band he co-founded out of high school. Subsequent
albums (Leaving Through the Window and North) proved the band's growth
potential as well as the appeal of McMahon, whom MTV called "the
good-looking, shaggy-haired, thickframed- glasses-wearing frontman." This
past year, in addition to a more expansive tour schedule, Something
Corporate was nominated for Band of the Year at the 2004 College Music
Awards.

And what does Andrew McMahon hope to accomplish with Jack's Mannequin and
Everything in Transit? A chance to vocalize a difficult period in his life,
and to broaden his musical landscape. He also looks to bring fresh energy
back to Something Corporate and to draw greater attention to the band. Given
the musical density of this side project and his rise as a talented and
iconoclastic performer, there's no doubt Andrew McMahon will be a magnet for
audience attention no matter the musical platform.