Old Hollywood

Band History

[Taken off of Wikipedia.]

Cute Is What We Aim For was formed in January 2005 as a side-project by Cherry Bing singer Shaant Hacikyan lead guitarist Jeff Czum, along with cousins and A New Hope members Fred Cimato and Tom Falcone on rhythm guitar and the drum kit, respectively. The band's name originated in a telephone conversation between Cimato and Hacikyan, in which the singer used the phrase in search of a "cute" band name ("cute" had become his trademark expression in high school as a synonym for "cool"). Laying to rest their previous endeavors' ska and pop punk notions, the quartet created a lyrically accentuated brand of power pop, that relies heavily on such poetic devices as alliteration, assonance, pun and metaphor, vocalized over radio-friendly clean guitar harmonies.

When they decided to devote themselves fully to Cute Is What We Aim For, parting ways with their other bands was less than amicable. Some members of Hacikyan's former band, Cherry Bing, blamed Hacikyan for the demise of the group. Despite their efforts to start anew, Cute Is What We Aim For was criticized for negligence such as their past engagements and their band name, amongst seemingly more important complaints such as allegations of plagiarism. Nevertheless, the band managed to rapidly build a fanbase. A considerable amount of the band's swift success is likely thanks to the large amount of coverage received from online "webzines." One such zine, Absolute Punk, featured band on their "Absolute Unsigned" feature, only to have the website's founder, Jason Tate, openly harass the band via a site message board, accusing them of being "marketing marionettes" of their label and excessively using Auto-Tune on their debut album. (Hacikyan and the album's producer, Matt Squire, admitted to using Auto-Tune but denied the other allegations in the following Absolutepunk interview.) Additionally the band fired their manager over allegations of unethical business practices, and underwent several line-up changes: In an effort to compensate for the absence of temporary bassist Don Arthur at a concert, Cimato permanently swapped his six-string for a bass guitar, while rhythm guitarist Chris Flury completed the quintet in November 2005. Although already suspected by fans due to several indications on the band's part, on November 29, 2005, their signing with Fueled by Ramen was officially announced. Shortly thereafter, another line-up change occurred, when Flury and the band mutually agreed to part ways and Cute Is What We Aim For went on as a four-piece. On June 20, 2006, Cute Is What We Aim For's debut album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch hit store shelves, debuting at #75 on the Billboard 200. With 13,651 in first week sales, the album broke the label's internal record set by Panic! at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005) by almost 4,000 copies. As of January 2007, the album has sold 94,410 units. The Academy Is...'s William Beckett lent his vocal talents to the album's first single "There's a Class for This", which openly addresses the band's ever-surrounding drama (culminating in the song's chorus "Drama doesn't follow me, it rides on my back/I may be ugly, but they sure love to stare"). The music video directed by Jay Martin premiered on mtvU on July 17, 2006. In February 2007 the group's second single, "The Curse of Curves", was released.

On October 17, 2006, it was announced on the band's MySpace blog that Cimato would be replaced by former October Fall bassist Jack Marin. However, only six months later, the band announced that Marin had left the band and Cimato would reprise his role as a bassist temporarily. Marin has spoken out on why he left the band in his LiveJournal, citing personal issues with another member. In early 2007, it was revealed that the group has signed with Atlantic Records. For the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, singer-songwriter Dave Melillo joined the band as a backup guitarist.