Jack's Mannequin vs. Something Corporate

2005 was obviously a huge year for Andrew McMahon. He was diagnosed with leukemia and released his first album (Everything in Transit) with his side project Jack's Mannequin. But first and foremost, he took a break from his first band, Something Corporate. That's the part I remember most, as I had just seen them live for the first time and was immediately impressed; it was only when I looked at their website to find new tour dates a few months later that I heard about McMahon's medical troubles. At the time, no one knew who Jack's Mannequin was, for good reason: they didn't exist yet. And now they're showing up everywhere. So why didn't this happen for SoCo?

God only knows. I must admit, when I first heard the first JM album, I was upset. More than upset, I was freakin *pissed*. Why did they ruin such an amazing band like Something Corporate for a crappy pop band? SoCo was one of the bands that I used to define the best of the best of emo (up there with Dashboard Confessional and Jimmy Eat World): melody rich pop-rock with a powerful, emotional vocal and "deep" (for a teenager) lyrics about, well, being a teenager. Jack's Mannequin, was, well, not. "Mix Tape," the first single, was a very poppy love song. Not like the pained love of "Konstantine":

this is because i can spell confusion with a 'K'
and i can like it
its to dying in anothers arms
and why i had to try it
its to jimmy eat world
and those nights in my car
when the first star you see
may not be a star
im not your star
isnt that what you said
what you thought this song meant
…
this is to a girl who got into my head
with all the pretty things she did
hey ya know you keep me up in bed
this is to a girl who got into my head
with all these fucked up things i did

Compare that to the hopeful love of "Mix Tape":
Where are you now?
As I'm swimming through the stereo
I'm writing you a symphony of sound
Where are you now?
As I rearrange the songs again
This mix could burn a hole in anyone
But it was you I was thinking of

How could anyone honestly prefer that mushy shallow love to such honest pain? And how could such an honest and talented lead singer go from Something Corporate to Jack's Mannequin?

Having grown up a little myself since I first started to listen to SoCo (my first SoCo show was January of my freshman year of college; I have since graduated and moved cross country and am living pretty much as a grown up), I'm finally starting to get it. Don't get me wrong, I still love SoCo much more than JM, and the second SoCo goes on tour again, I'm singing up for whatever I need to to get the first presale tickets before they all sell out. But I understand the control of emotion that comes through in JM. He still feels mostly the same as he did before (though I'm sure his idea of "struggle" has changed immensely since fighting leukemia), you just get more of a handle on expressing it with age.

I have found – when going back through my itunes – that my own tastes have changed greatly since 2005. I would have laughed at myself if I knew then what I'd like now. Brittany and N'Sync still annoy the crap outta me (and yes, I still think Justin Timberlake looks like a cross between a monkey and a dog, and I'm even *less* convinced now he has any talent than I was then). But I would have been much more willing (and eager) to sit through a screamo band than I am now. In general, the music I listened to then was much harder than what it is now (then, it was more pop-PUNK, now it's more POP-punk). This trend is even clear in the bands themselves: compare Yellowcard's Midget Tossing (one of their earliest hardest albums), or even The Underdog EP to Paper Walls; how about All Time Low's Three Words to Remember against So Wrong It's Right.

This recent revelation has led me to this question: who's doing the growing? Do bands naturally begin to create more gentle pop-y music as they age? Or is it the fans' fault? Do bands tone it down to appeal to a more grown-up fan base (including their aging original fans)? Or am I being too naïve? Is it really the fault of the industry? The first (few) albums are made entirely by the bands, doing whatever they want with little supervision from the industry people who need to worry about the bottom line; after a while though, they need to broaden their fan base to pay for that next album, which leads them in a more pop direction.

I don't know what the answer is, I wish I did. That way I'd be able to predict more easily who was going to make it big next (and I could befriend them now – yay free concert tickets!). The only thing I know is that I'm still going to love Something Corporate no matter what. Oh, and I'll always hate Brittany.