Song Premiere: Rival Schools, "Reaching Out"

Rival Schools' “Reaching Out” has never had a proper premiere—until now. The same can be said for the LP's worth of songs recorded along with it roughly a decade ago. A few years following the release of 2001's United By Fate, the band demoed material intended for the band's sophomore album, which will finally see a physical release on April 9 as Found. Helmet/Orange 9MM guitarist Chris Traynor had replaced Ian Love during this era, who would later rejoin for 2011's Pedals before departing again. “There was definitely a different energy with Chris in the band, but we were open to it,” recalls frontman Walter Schreifels.

Label woes from Island/Def Jam put a wrench in the works, essentially shelving the album. “They weren't 'hearing the single' and wanted us to continue demoing or drop the band,” explains Schreifels. While the demos leaked online years ago, they were a mislabeled, incomplete hodgepodge of low quality MP3s (everything has since been remastered). “Some mischief maker at Island leaked our demos onto the internet, where they became known as the “lost Rival Schools album,” which is why we decided to call it Found. While I was initially bummed, over time I came to appreciate that the fans who managed to get a hold of it really seemed to hold it dear. This helped me to reassess the whole deal. I was able to see Found for the wonderful little musical snapshot that it is. It isn't nearly as polished or developed as United By Fate or Pedals, it's a diamond in the rough, a feel good story. Found was lost but now is found.”

Limited vinyl pre-orders are available now from ShopRadioCast or MerchDirect and digitally from iTunes.

Track Listing:

Dreamlife Avenger
Reaching Out
Indisposable Heroes
Paranoid Detectives
On The Fray
The Soft Skin
Tell It All To Me
Missing Glider
Big Waves
Sofia Loren
Why Can’t I Touch It (The Buzzcocks cover)