American Hi-Fi

Before linking up with American Hi-Fi, drummer Stacy Jones had already logged time in two major 1990s alternative outfits, Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt. While contributing to Nina Gordon’s solo release Tonight and the Rest of My Life, he drew fresh direction from the lively punch of Cheap Trick and straightforward rock energy. Jones joined guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons, and drummer Brian Nolan to set up operations in his native Boston, landing a contract with Island that yielded the self-titled debut album in 2001. The record delivered the memorable radio track “Flavor of the Weak,” which prompted widespread touring, the concert album Live from Tokyo in 2002, and the next studio effort, Art of Losing, in 2003.

Island parted ways with the band soon after Art of Losing appeared. Jones nevertheless shifted American Hi-Fi’s base to Los Angeles, enlisted producer Butch Walker, and began cutting new songs. Hearts on Parade surfaced first in Japan; while courting an American label the group joined Walker on the road. Maverick eventually signed on, issuing the album domestically in April 2005. Although the members stated in 2007 that they were preparing another record, label complications postponed its arrival. They ultimately launched their own imprint, Hi-Fi Killers, and delivered the fourth album, Fight the Frequency, in 2010.

A stretch of relative inactivity followed, largely because Jones and Arentzen were occupied organizing and performing in Miley Cyrus’s touring band. Momentum returned after a sold-out appearance at London’s 100 Club in May 2014. Jones later noted that the group had not functioned at full strength since 2005, yet the response to that intimate show prompted them to record once more. Much of the resulting September release, Blood & Lemonade, was written with former Wire Train member Kevin Hunter. Early in 2016 the band announced plans for an acoustic reinterpretation of its debut album. American Hi-Fi Acoustic reached stores through Rude Records that April.