Discography

Today's treasure of Drive Thru Records' past is a 2002 Something Corporate documentary called 'A Year In The Life.' This captures a really interesting point in the band’s career.

Something Corporate (or SoCo) formed in 1998 and released their first full length, Ready… Break, in 2000 with funding from a local venue called the Coach House. In 2001, the band signed with Drive-Thru and released the Audio Boxer EP with all new material (save “Hurricane”). That was followed by Leaving Through The Window the following year which was made up of a mixture of tracks from Audio Boxer and rerecorded songs from Ready… Break.

In a half hour, A Year In The Life documents SoCo during the recording of, and subsequent touring for, Leaving Through the Window. It takes you behind the scenes of recording with Jim Wirt (The Rocket Summer, Jack’s Mannequin, Alien Ant Farm), the recording “If U C Jordan” and “I Woke Up In A Car” music videos, their early days of Warped touring, and writing what might be the most beloved b-side ever recorded, “Konstantine.”

Unlike The Starting Line Acoustic DVD released by Drive-Thru the following year, this one came in a standard 19х13.5cm case. I’m not sure how necessary that was, really. There are no inserts or booklets to accompany the disc inside. I supposed MCA just had the money for it. I’ve included here a cleaned up scan of the front cover.

I haven't seen this one posted online previously for what I'm assuming is the same reason I had to recut it today. UMG puts out claims on any video containing footage from the "If U C Jordan" and "I Woke Up In A Car" videos, both of which this documentary goes behind the scenes. I’ve trimmed the videos from the documentary and posted the documentary below.

While "If U C Jordan" was directed by Drive Thru's own Richard Reines, "I Woke Up In A Car" was directed by renowned Canadian producer Harvey "Harv" Glazer who went on to work with acts like Kendrick, Drake, Rihanna, and more.

Production credits:

Produced by Tim Stedman
Co-Produced by Brent Kidwell
Edited by Buzz Chatman
Filmed by Brent Kidwell, Hadi Salehi, Buzz Chatman, Jeff Jackel, and Andrew McMahon
© MCA Records

The Last Scene aims to be the definitive film about Punk and Emo at the dawn of a new millennium. The documentary, a project by filmmaker Kyle Kilday, was just funded on Kickstarter.

From Kickstarter:

The Last Scene will be the FIRST comprehensive chronicle of what many believe is the LAST underground, DIY music scene. One forged in VFW halls and community recreation centers across the United States in the Late 1990's/Early 2000's.

The filmmaker’s initial goal was $10,000 with stretch goals that would allow them to extend the scope of the documentary. The final pledge count was $14,036.

So, what are we getting? According to the campaign description, at $10k, Kilday will produce “a 20-30 minute documentary for digital release about the origins and formation of the scene (up until mainstream breakout).” These funds will allow them to conduct interviews in southern California, source archival stills and footage, and set up a workflow for producing the film.

At $15k, a 30-45 minute documentary could be produced with some additional travel for interviews. They just barely missed that goal, but I’m told travel is already in the works with some vital voices in the scene. Even if the film caps at a half hour, I’m anticipating a great result.

You can watch the trailer above and follow the project as it builds on Instagram.

In November of 2003, The Starting Line released The Make Yourself at Home EP which featured 6 acoustic tracks. “The Best Of Me,” previously released as a full-band track on Say It Like You Mean It (2002), was given the acoustic treatment. The 4 remaining songs were new.

From the liner notes:

Thank you to all of our families and friends. We would list everybody but it would be longer than the lyrics.

Everyone,
Thanks so much for checking out our acoustic EP, we hope you enjoy it. I just wanted to clarify what this recording is, for anyone who is curious. The first three songs of this EP were written while touring in the summer of 2002. With some time off we spent at home, the songs were recorded by my good friend Bob Jones of The Prize Fight in his bedroom. For convenience, the songs were recorded from an acoustic guitar and the beats were taken from an 80's Casio keyboard. Between the positive feedback we received from our friends and our desire to get the new songs out, we decided to release a five song EP including a new song and an acoustic version of The Best of Me. The last two song[s] of the CD were recorded in my basement during March 2003 and this EP was completed. It was a great experience to work on this recording as independently as we did. So thank you again, we hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it.

Love, Kenny and The Starting Line.

P.S. We added Lasting Impressions on quite awhile after the EP's completion. This song was recorded on my own in the back of the bus. It will appear on our next album as a full band song.

“Lasting Impressions” was demoed with the rest of the band during the Geffen Sessions, but would never see an official full-band release.

In addition to the EP, there was a lesser known companion DVD as well, The Make Yourself At Home Acoustic DVD. This release contained a live-recorded acoustic performance with a slightly different tracklisting. The set on the DVD was recorded at the Skate & Surf Festival in late April of 2003.

As far as I am aware, this DVD has been out of print for a long time. On Discogs, the number of Wants exceed the Haves and, although it's not historically expensive to pick one up second-hand, the opportunity to do so is fairly uncommon.

So here's the video. I hope nobody associated with the group will mind. It's a fun set that those who have attended the band's 20 year anniversary tour this year should appreciate.

You can purchase The Make Yourself At Home EP digitally on Bandcamp along with the rest of The Starting Line’s discography.

As a bonus, here's a ~6 minute tour bus interview with Kenny Vasoli that came on the DVD, as well as two enhanced CD live videos of “Classic Jazz” and “Surprise Surprise.”

The Make Yourself At Home Acoustic DVD

The Make Yourself At Home EP

This emo-tinged indie-rock band was formed by Christopher Browder, crystalizing from various solo projects in 2007. The following is a reverse chronological discography of Browder’s work, including his previous solo releases and college-era bands Good Driver and Once More (Than Never).

While I was working on this archive, Chris went ahead and built something very similar on the band's website for their primary releases. There, too, are some great making-of accounts of several full-lengths in the discography.

Mansions (2007-present)

Another one-off cover. This one came with a note from Chris on the band's Instagram.

While writing Tuff Luff I got hit with major writer’s block, and one attempt to bust out of it was recording dumb rock versions of songs that were very much not that (e.g. what if Phoebe bridges had a pop-punk band). I’ve always loved New Love Cassette, and after recording a demo Robin and I were both like “wait…why can’t the album just be like this???” That discovery unlocked Tuff Luff in a very real way, and we recorded this “real” version in those same Tuff Luff sessions. I hope you dig it as much as we like playing it!!

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Mansions' 6th studio album was marked as a return to the sound that married Dig Up The Dead and Doom Loop. It was recorded from December 2022 to March 2023.

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Recorded from August 2020 through March 2021, this collection continues a long-running theme of reimagining old material to give it new life.

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In a series of covers, also known as 'VS TikTok', Chris transformed these viral hits into charming acoustic ballads.

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Bad Timing Records released the compilation on vinyl for its 20th Anniversary. This release features remixed and remastered versions of the songs. While "All Eyes On You" was dropped, "When I Sleep" and "The Constant" were added.

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Recorded from July through September 2020, these new takes on cuts from Big Bad were released as a digital-exclusive.

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Released 7 years after the last, Mansions' fifth LP is known for a slight departure from the band's signature sound. This is the first full-length first released by Bad Timing Records.

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A collection of demos and b-sides from the making of Dig Up The Dead. The collection was only available from June 5-7, 2020 on Bandcamp and all proceeds were donated to Black Lives Matter.

From Christopher Browder on the release:

Most of these were never intended to see the light of the day. Unmastered, mp3 quality, no guarantees that any of it is good.

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After partnering with the label in 2014 for the vinyl pressing of Dig Up The Dead (Acoustic) and The Biggest Lie / Tangerine 7”, Bad Timing Records released the Deserter EP exclusively. The record was premiered on Billboard.com on October 31, 2017.

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Alongside a repressing of New Best Friends, Bad Timing Records printed 250 copies of The Biggest Lie / Tangerine, a two side single with the two tracks from the self-titled EP that didn’t make it on the full length.

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Mansions’ fourth full-length album, and the second release from the band on Clifton Motel Records. Cassettes by Pretty Lush.

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Together with John Nolan (and Street Spirit) of Taking Back Sunday and Straylight Run, Mansions released a two track split featuring their single “Heavy Dungeon Echo.” The release was limited to 1000 physical copies.

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This Burning House Records compilation features six of the label’s artists covering one of each others songs. Mansions covered “Miserable Without You” by Jarrod Gorbel and The Holy Rolling Empire covered Mansions’ “OMG.” Proceeds from the sale of the EP go to the San Francisco School Alliance.

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This acoustic rendition of Dig Up The Dead was originally released on a limited edition CD-R that was included in pre-orders of the standard album's pink variant and some copies of the CD. It was pressed on vinyl by Bad Timing Records on January 6, 2015.

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Mansions' third full-length album, released by Clifton Motel Records. CDs were pressed by Burning House Records and cassettes by Pretty Lush. Vinyl repressed by Bad Timing Records in 2019.

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Best of the Bees is a compilation of various tracks from the EP Initiative. Each track was hand picked by Christopher Browder for a Bandcamp exclusive release. The compilation was reworked and re-released by Bad Timing Records in 2020.

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Roughly 100 copies of this limited edition tape were made. “Unwell” was later put on Best Of The Bees. “Family Dinner Week” was previously released by Browder’s former bands Once More and Good Driver in 2005. “All Those Dreams” was recorded twice more. Once for Mansions’ Daytrotter Session and again as a Dig Up The Dead bonus track.. As far as I’m aware, “Lost In Space” is exclusive to this release.

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A collaborative release by Weatherbox’s Brian Warren and Mansions’ Christopher Browder. Pre-release CDs were hand numbered /200 and hand-painted.

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The second full-length LP from Mansions. A direct follow-up to the EP Initiative, featuring newly recorded versions of the series' best tracks. The original vinyl pressing was hand-assembled and contained a special-edition color poster and CD insert with an interview and unreleased recording of "The Worst" Part.

The original CD pressing featured artwork from Browder and a CD bonus disk for The EP Initiative.

The album was repressed on March 4, 2014 through Bad Timing Records. Handrawn artwork by Robin Dove. This release included the afore-listed "Biggest Lie / Tangerine" 7".

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This compilation is comprised of tracks released on the various EPs released in 2008, leading up to the release of New Best Friends. It was included as a bonus MP3 disc in the CD release of the record.

A full description of The EP Initiative and it’s seven individual parts is in progress and will be published here at a later time.

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This self-titled EP was released by Doghouse to drum up buzz for the forthcoming Mansions full length. The first two tracks of the EP were included in that that release. The latter two were rereleased as a 7” in 2014 along with the New Best Friends repress. The CD contains further content accessible via a computer.

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The first full length released under the Mansions moniker. Self-produced and recorded. This album includes early versions of many songs that would be re-recorded and used on New Best Friends. Only a few hundred copies were produced.

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Good Driver (2005-2006)

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Bristopher Crowder / C.L. Browder (2004-2005)

These tracks were released in an ongoing series that's significant as it's the first "solo" work Chris Browder released online.

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Once More (Than Never) (2004-2005)

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Not much is known about this demo. By the time it arrived on my Radar, Purevolume's data had been purged and the Internet Archive was barred from retaining any data related to the site.

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This was a song demoed by Christopher while he was in college. It's been described as "mellow with a techno-ish vibe." It was available for download on Once More Than Never's university-hosted web page.