Best American Hi-Fi Songs: 15 Alt-Rock Classics From The Teenage Alien Nation

Initially an in-demand drummer on the U.S. underground scene, Tulsa-born, but Boston-based Stacy Jones was inspired by Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Bush’s Gavin Rossdale to try out a vocal and guitar role. It proved the right move too, for Jones has all the charisma and chutzpah a great frontman needs, especially as his band, American Hi-Fi, took off like a rocket following the success of their signature hit, 2000’s “Flavor Of The Weak.” Now recognized as one of U.S. alt-rock’s premier go-to musical directors, Jones has since collaborated with the likes of Miley Cyrus, Sombr and Olivia Rodrigo, but American Hi-Fi remains a going concern. This roundup of the best of his band’s hard-edged, yet highly-accessible songs reveals that their enviable legacy has long since been secured.

Flavor Of The Weak

American Hi-Fi’s signature hit “Flavor Of The Weak” recounts a well-observed (and all-too-relatable) tale of a one-sided relationship where a guy taken his girlfriend for granted (“His dirty clothes are all he gives to her”) despite her unconditional devotion to him (“He means everything to her.”) Musically, the song itself is a considerably happier marriage of grunge-y alt-rock and infectious power-pop, so it’s no surprise that the evergreen “Flavor Of The Weak” shot into the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 and primed American Hi-Fi for mainstream success prior to the release of their self-titled debut album in February 2001.

Scar

One of the many highlights from 2001’s American Hi-Fi, “Scar” opens with a thunderous drum blitzkrieg from Brian Nolan before morphing into a dynamic punk-pop anthem with a radio-friendly accessibility redolent of Sugar’s Copper Blue. Well-drilled and instantly memorable, “Scar” probably should have been a single, yet it remained one of the deeper cuts from the exhilarating American Hi-Fi.

Another Perfect Day

Surely American Hi-Fi’s greatest power ballad, “Another Perfect Day” is a beautifully-executed widescreen set-piece, with its discreet strings, Jones’ yearning vocals and Nolan’s explosive drum re-entry all recalling Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back In Anger.” Chosen as the second single from 2001’s American Hi-Fi, it secured a Top 40 placing on Billboard’s Alternative Tracks chart and was later used in NBC’s coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics, but its modest success has never felt commensurate with its obvious quality.

Vertigo

Featuring the likes of Casey Affleck and Mena Suvari among its all-star cast, the 2001 comedy American Pie 2 became one of that year’s biggest hits at the box office. The film’s spin-off soundtrack album also did brisk business, receiving a gold certification and it included a number of exclusive tracks, with American Hi-Fi’s “Vertigo” rubbing shoulders with contributions from Green Day, Blink-182 and other legendary U.S. punk-pop acts. One of the soundtrack’s highlights, “Vertigo” is quintessential American Hi-Fi, with its drum-heavy glam-rock beat accentuated by growling guitars and a suitably immediate chorus.

I’m A Fool

Hard-driving alternative rock may be American Hi-Fi’s primary lingua franca, but a highly-developed pop sensibility beats at the heart of the band’s best songs. It certainly pulses steadily throughout “I’m A Fool,” the purest and most unadorned love song from American Hi-Fi and a tune that’s more than deserving of the favorable comparisons to the likes of Big Star and Fountains Of Wayne that it’s earned over the years.

Wall Of Sound

It’s well-documented that Stacy Jones had barely mastered the guitar when he first formed American Hi-Fi, but he was obviously a fast learner, for there’s no doubting his band’s proficiency on “Wall Of Sound,” the epic 6-minute closing track from 2001’s American Hi-Fi. Opening relatively slowly, this chameleonic set-piece begins in relatively measured style, with Jones and company flirting with Elliott Smith-esque introspection and then gradually building the tension before Jamie Arentzen’s stylish guitar solo paves the way for a truly grandstanding finish.

Surrender

One of rock’s most popular clichés is that all bands aspire to be “Big In Japan,” though some have gone on to make that dream a reality. One of American Hi-Fi’s favorite bands, enduring Illinois rockers Cheap Trick certainly did, with their best-selling live album At Budokan from 1979 significantly expanding the band’s popularity at home and abroad. American Hi-Fi also built a loyal following in Japan and they pay tribute to their heroes on 2002’s Rock N’ Roll Noodle Shop: Live From Tokyo – a terrific, energized in-concert collection featuring a powerful version of Cheap Trick’s classic song “Surrender.”

Happy

Recorded during the band’s Japanese tour of 2001 (and released in 2002), American Hi-Fi’s Rock N’ Roll Noodle Shop: Live From Tokyo remains an excellent snapshot of the band at their absolute peak onstage. The tracklist mostly features songs from American Hi-Fi, but also fully-formed and fantastic versions of several tracks that would later appear on the band’s second album The Art Of Losing. One of these, the prowling, drum-heavy “Happy” closes both records in style, though the version captured for Live From Tokyo wins out on ferocity alone.

The Art Of Losing

A neatly-executed outsider’s anthem built upon a stomping rhythm, melodic basslines and call-and-response guitar lines, “The Art Of Losing” is by turns humorous and defiant. It wastes little time getting to its smart, if slightly cheeky Ramones-referencing chorus (“Hey ho, let’s go/I’m gonna start a riot”) but also delivers a serious message about refusing to bow to authority (“Don’t tell me what to do/I don’t wanna be like you”). In an MTV interview, Stacy Jones revealed that the song “represents me and how and how I’ve always felt,” and it quickly curried favor with the band’s fans, making the Top 40 of Billboard’s Alternative Tracks chart in the spring of 2003.

The Breakup Song

As its title rather less than subtly hints, “The Breakup Song” concerns the end of a relationship, with Stacy Jones making his position crystal clear by bluntly telling his ex-girlfriend “I’m over it, so you gotta go!” Released as the second single from American Hi-Fi’s second album, The Art Of Losing, this eminently catchy, if slightly brattish song is infused with elements of ska and finds the song’s narrator obsessing about retrieving his record collection (“My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, Cheap Trick and Back In Black) as opposed to fretting about his former lover’s post-split feelings.

Teenage Alien Nation

An early version of “Teenage Alien Nation” (then known as “Waking Up To The End Of The World”) appears on American Hi-Fi’s Japanese live album Rock N’ Roll Noodle Shop, but the band really nails the studio version of the song, one of the best from 2003’s The Art Of Losing. Driven by zig-zagging guitar riffs, “Teenage Alien Nation” is all about living in the moment (“Forget about tomorrow/You and me, we’re going down in sorrow”), but while Jones’ lyric seems to revel in its own angst, the band’s pile-driving performance is so exhilarating that the listener can’t help but feel energized and uplifted.

This Is The Sound

The cinematic ballad from the band’s second album The Art Of Losing, “This Is The Sound” opens with acoustic guitars, muffled toms and distinct hints of “White Album”-era Beatles. Steeped in melancholy, it builds steadily, with Jones’ grainy, Liam Gallagher-esque vocal, Arentzen’s expressive guitar embroidery and the sing-along chorus (“This is the sound of the broken down/And this is the last train home, the underground”) all conspiring to turn it into an epic slow-burner. It still feels like a hit in waiting, though while it’s long-since been accepted as a fan favorite, it’s never been issued as a single.

The Geeks Get The Girls

Following the tour in support of The Art Of Losing, American Hi-Fi relocated to Los Angeles and recorded 2005’s Hearts On Parade with producer Butch Walker (Weezer, Fall Out Boy). Anything but a “difficult” third album, it was again long on quality, with The Boston Globe’s review declaring “almost every track is a Top 40 hit waiting to happen.” The record’s spin-off single, the eminently catchy outsider anthem “The Geeks Get The Girls” (“Last night, he finally got it right/Even losers get lucky sometimes”) suggests that should have been the case, though in the end both single and album were only relatively minor hits.

Fight The Frequency

Following the release of 2005’s Hearts On Parade, Stacy Jones began to devote more time to producing and engineering and also joined Miley Cyrus’ touring band alongside guitarist Jamie Arentzen. However, the two musicians remained committed to American Hi-Fi, reconvening to record 2010’s Fight The Frequency. Another highly consistent collection of accessible, well-executed alt-rock songs, it was a welcome addition to the band’s canon, with the record’s confident, aggressive title track sounding like the equal of any of American Hi-Fi’s best songs.

Golden State

As it stands, 2014’s Blood & Lemonade remains American Hi-Fi’s most recent album and it’s another more than decent outing, with songs such as “Allison,” “Amnesia” and – in particular – the excellent “Golden State” all revealing that when it comes to driving alt-rock anthems delivered with conviction and a radio-friendly accessibility, then Stacy Jones’ team are still tough to beat. If nothing new comes out way, then Blood & Lemonade would stand as a strong final statement, though the band’s return to touring leaves the door open for more music.

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