ARTIST: Plain White T's
TITLE: Every Second Counts
LABEL: Hollywood Records
GENRE: Rock
BITRATE: 234kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 37min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-09-12
RIP DATE: 2006-08-30

Track List

01. Our Time Now                    2:50
02. Come Back To Me                 3:23
03. Hate (I Really Don't Like You)  3:44
04. You And Me                      2:18
05. Friends Don't Let Friends Dial  3:22
Drunk
06. Making A Memory                 2:49
07. So Damn Clever                  3:03
08. Tearin' Us Apart                2:36
09. Write You A Song                4:01
10. Gimme A Chance                  2:57
11. Figure It Out                   2:45
12. Let Me Take You There           3:46

Release Notes:

For almost a decade, the Plain White T’s have been playing to packed
audiences craving for that perfect pop-punk punch. Their journey,
which began in a small suburban basement playing covers, has taken
the band to Warped Tour three times, landed them opening slots for
bands like Jimmy Eat World and AFI, and now finds the high-energy
five-piece about to kick-off the 2006 Nintendo Fusion Tour with
Hawthorne Heights. The Plain White T’s are road warriors in the
truest sense and with their first major label album, Every Second
Counts, the band is ready to rock in a big way. Call it hard work or
call it destiny, one thing's for sure — the Plain White T’s were put
on this earth to entertain you.

PWT’s story started back in high school, when frontman Tom Higgenson
first stepped into Chicago's famed rock club the Metro and saw his
future on the stage. With the local music scene exploding nationally
courtesy of bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Veruca Salt, he decided
the time was ripe for his own dreams to be realized. Armed with
paper, pen and guitar, Tom went to task, experimenting with lyrics
and melodies on a four-track in his parents' Villa Park, Illinois
home. Once he'd reached a level of comfort with his songwriting, he
worked up the courage to hand off a tape to Christian Lane, singer
of 90s buzz band Loud Lucy, and to his surprise, Christian actually
listened to it. "I saw him at a show and he remembered me," Tom
recounts. "He told me, 'You should lock yourself in a room with a
guitar for a year and you'll be there.' It was very inspirational."

Once he’d recruited a group of school pals — including guitarist
Dave Tirio—it was only a matter of a couple years before the Plain
White T’s, who’d attracted a loyal following thanks to Tom’s
ridiculously melodic tales of teen angst and loveless nights, were
playing the Metro themselves. “Anytime we could get in front of a
bunch of kids who’d never heard of us, we saw that as a huge
opportunity,” he says. “Winning over fans, that’s what it’s all
about. And even from when we were 16, we always wanted to be
successful and have a wide audience.”

The music industry took notice of that success and after selling
thousands of copies of their self-released 2002 debut, Stop, PWT's
were picked up by Fearless Records (home to Sugarcult, At The
Drive-In and The Aquabats) who re-issued the album along with 2005's
All That We Needed. But it was their heartfelt, acoustic-tinged “Hey
There Delilah” that cemented their status as potential hitmakers.
"We knew “...Delilah” was going to be something people would like,”
says Tom, “and it's turned out to be our biggest song yet."

Tom's songwriting evolved after the success of the romantically
frank “...Delilah,” which really was a departure for a band known
for their energetic power pop. On Hollywood Records debut Every
Second Counts, Tom, along with bandmates Mike Retondo (bass and
vocals), De'Mar Hamilton (drums), and Tim Lopez (guitar, vocals),
continues to turn the personal into the universal. Throughout the
album, he sings of hook-ups and break-ups and the emotional
rollercoaster in between. A prime example is lead single “Hate (I
Really Don’t Like You),” which Tom says is “kind of vindictive, the
story of this girl that I liked who just blew me off, but I
couldn’t be that mean, so it’s more like I’m pissed off. That’s
what the ‘I Really Don’t Like You’ line is about.”

In a similar vein, the lyrics for “Friends Don’t Let Friends Dial
Drunk” also showcases Tom’s offbeat take on love and life, while
its melody sucks you in with every turn of phrase. “It’s about a
girl who would only call me when she was drunk,” says Tom. “Then,
when she was sober and we’d hang out, she wanted nothing to do
with me.”

Delving slightly deeper into emotional territory are upbeat tracks
like “Our Time Now” and “Come Back To Me” as well as one of the
album’s quieter numbers, “Write You A Song.” “Love is what
everyone wants,” says Tom. “It’s what people think and obsess about
and I’m no different. Relationships make you crazy sometimes.” Of
course, this all begs the question: what’s up with his love life?
“It’s more of a ‘like’ life,” he quips. “As in, the ones I like
never like me.”

But don’t cry for the Plain White T’s. Like their album title says,
this band is making every second count and thoroughly enjoying the
ride. “Things are moving faster than expected and we are proceeding
with caution,” says Tom. “But we’re not going to change. Whether
we’re playing a small club or an arena, we’re gonna sweat the same.
And if it gets really big, maybe we can finally have a light show!”