A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times is the third extended play by American melodic hardcore band As Friends Rust. It was released on compact disc and 12" vinyl by American record label Equal Vision Records on May 28, 2002. German record label Defiance Records licensed the rights to the extended play for the European market, though these compact disc and 12" vinyl editions were released a day earlier than the American one, on May 27, 2002.
In promotion of the release, As Friends Rust toured the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe several times between March and November 2002, accompanied by such bands as Brand New, Coheed and Cambria, Thursday, Sick of It All, The Movielife, Shai Hulud, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Open Hand, Shelter, Keepsake, Hotwire, Fairweather, The Sainte Catherines, This Day Forward, Bloodlet, The Reunion Show, The Stryder, Liars Academy, Running from Dharma, Prevent Falls, The Remedy Session, and The Copperpot Journals. The band also performed at notable festivals like Van's Warped Tour in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, Krazy Fest in Louisville, Kentucky, Hell City Tattoo Festival in Columbus, Ohio, Gorefest in Miami, Florida, Chaos Days Festival in Savannah, Georgia, Ieperfest in Ypres, Belgium, Defiance Festival in Köln, Germany, Mondsee Open Air Festival in Hohenmölsen, Germany, Nordhausen Festival in Nordhausen, Germany, and Sommerspektakel Open Air Festival in Sarstedt, Germany.
The band went through extensive line-up changes following A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times' recording sessions and ensuing promotional tours. The extended play was written and recorded with lead vocalist Damien Moyal, guitarists Joseph Simmons and Christopher "Floyd" Beckham, drummer Zachary Swain, and bass guitarist Thomas Rankine. Moyal quit the band less than two weeks after the recording sessions, forcing Beckham to step up as lead vocalist and former member Gordon Tarpley to return as fill-in guitarist for a month's worth of shows, before As Friends Rust had a chance to recruit new vocalist Adam D'Zurilla. Four months later, Beckham also departed. After completing a European and British tour as a four-piece, and fulfilling most of its contractual obligations to the many record labels to which the band was signed, the remaining members of As Friends Rust decided to change the band's name to Salem in September 2002. Salem continued to tour in promotion of the release for two more months before focusing on new material.
Composition and recording
Before beginning work on its first full-length album Won in early 2001, As Friends Rust went through major line-up changes in late 2000. The band had previously released three extended plays; The Fists of Time, a split with Discount (both in 1998) and As Friends Rust (in 1999), and had been touring in promotion of that material since June 1998. As Friends Rust had hoped to record a full-length album in late 1999 or early 2000, but was unable to compose enough new material. Prior to leaving on a European and British tour in September 2000, guitarist James Glayat and drummer Timothy Kirkpatrick announced their desire to leave the band upon returning home. However, tensions during the tour ultimately caused a much bigger change in membership, so much so that the future of As Friends Rust was questioned.
Ex-As Friends Rust guitarist Peter Bartsocas was visiting Europe at the same time and decided to travel with the band. When Glayat injured his leg during the first week of the tour and flew home early, Bartsocas filled the vacant guitarist position. Several shows later, lead vocalist Damien Moyal lost his voice, leading bass guitarist and backing vocalist Kaleb Stewart to take up lead vocals, and in turn Bartsocas temporarily filled in as bass guitarist. Moyal and guitarist Joseph Simmons called Christopher "Floyd" Beckham (Glayat's at-the-time roommate, and an ex-member of Morning Again, Culture and Crucible) from Europe, asking him to join As Friends Rust as its new guitarist upon returning home, much to Stewart's dismay, leading the latter to quit the band. Moyal and Stewart were initially to stay over in Europe following As Friends Rust's tour, for a second tour with their other band Bridgeburne R, but Moyal was forced to find a new bass guitarist for both bands, as well as a new drummer for As Friends Rust. Due to its membership changes, As Friends Rust had to pull out of playing Gainesvillefest in December 2000.
The band briefly considered becoming a four-piece, with Simmons as sole guitarist and Beckham as bass guitarist (finding it easier to fill a single missing member on drums), and shortening the band's name to The Rust. By early 2001, the band was actively writing material for its planned first full-length album, as part of its existing three-release recording contract with Doghouse Records. The Doghouse Records contract called for one extended play (used up with As Friends Rust) and two full-length albums; The Fists of Time: An Anthology of Short Fiction and Non-Fiction was a reissue of previously recorded material and did not count towards the contract.
Moyal, Simmons and Beckham then recruited drummer Alexander Vernon (formerly of Twelve Tribes) and bass guitarist Guillermo Amador (with Beckham returning to guitar). Further line-up changes resulted with Zachary Swain (formerly of Rosalind, Adversary and Carlisle) replacing Vernon on drums in March 2001, and Thomas Rankine (formerly of Crestfallen, Bird of Ill Omen, Dead Men's Theory, Anchorman and Crucible) replacing Amador on bass in April 2001.
Before completing work on Won for Doghouse Records, As Friends Rust was approached by American record label Equal Visions Records in April 2001. The band managed to sign a one-off extended play deal through a loan-out from Doghouse Records. As Friends Rust's extended play for Equal Vision Records was originally to include five songs: three new songs, a re-recording of "The First Song on the Tape You Make Her", and a cover song. The release of the extended play was first scheduled for October 2001, as at the time, Won was planned for release in August 2001. The release of the extended play was delayed as the band focused on completing Won in 2001 and touring in the United States, Europe and United Kingdom.
Work on As Friends Rust's extended play for Equal Vision Records resumed once the band returned from a three-week tour of the United States' East Coast and Midwest with Coral Springs, Florida-based emo band Keepsake and Pompano Beach, Florida-based emo band Further Seems Forever, which had spanned from August 23 to September 15, 2001. As Friends Rust then dedicated its time from mid-September to late October 2001 to composing new songs for the extended play, with plans to record the material in December 2001 and for a release date set in March 2002.
Composing was halted when As Friends Rust embarked on a five-week European and British tour with Richmond, Virginia-based punk rock band Strike Anywhere and Peoria, Illinois-based post-hardcore band Planes Mistaken for Stars. The tour spanned from October 29 to December 5, 2001, and included a highlight performance at London, England's Camden Underworld, which was filmed and later released on video and DVD by British home video company Punkervision in December 2002.
A Japanese and Australian tour had been proposed for early 2002, but the band instead took three months off from touring, spending December 2001 and January 2002 polishing five new songs, which were to be recorded for Equal Vision Records' extended play, newly titled A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times. The title of the release was a play on a line of dialog from the film The Big Lebowski, in which Jeff Bridges delivers "a young trophy wife, in the parlance of our times".
The extended play was recorded during one week in mid-February 2002, with producer James Paul Wisner at his studio, Wisner Productions, in Davie, Florida. The band had previously recorded with Wisner twice; once in November 1996 for its demo, and again in July 2001 for Won. The material recorded for A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times differed slightly from what was originally announced ten months prior. Instead of only three new songs, five were tracked: "More Than Just Music, It's a Hairstyle", "The Most Americanest", "Temporary Living", "Born With a Silver Spoon Up Your Ass", and "Where the Wild Things Were".
Tension within the band resulted with Moyal recording his vocals separately and co-producing the material without the other four members' presence. It was the first As Friends Rust recording, since the band's demo in 1996, to solely feature Moyal on both lead and backing vocals. Moyal also recorded guitar for an additional solo piece during the session, "Up and Went", (a precursor to Damien Done) with Wisner contributing additional guitar and synthesizer, and the two of them edited a 30-second joke track to place as a hidden song at the end of the extended play.
A week following the recording session, Moyal quit As Friends Rust, citing dissatisfaction with touring and wanting to focus on school and his then-girlfriend. In retrospective interviews, Moyal stated that the new members, Beckham, Swain and Rankine, were taking As Friends Rust in a more mainstream and polished direction, which in turn led to his loss of interest. In an interview conducted shortly after Moyal's departure, Rankine revealed that frictions with the vocalist had become increasingly problematic, especially since the band's recent European and British tour in October–December 2001. Rankine pointed out that Moyal's attitude had been negative and holding back the band from progressing in a natural direction, and that by leaving suddenly, he had left the band in a difficult situation with record label and touring obligations to fulfill. Moyal, nevertheless, encouraged the band to find a new vocalist and continue under the established name. Moyal went on to form Damien Done, a solo project which eventually expanded into a full band.
Release and packaging
The artwork and layout for A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times was designed and constructed by Moyal and frequent visual collaborator Jason Page (who had worked on As Friends Rust, The Fists of Time: An anthology of Short Fiction and Non-Fiction and Won). The cover art's main photograph was taken by Sarah Prieres. Due to contractual obligations, the band was required to include "As Friends Rust appears courtesy of Doghouse Records" in the booklet.
Equal Vision Records released A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times on compact disc and 12" vinyl on May 28, 2002. German record label Defiance Records, which had previously released Won on compact disc and 12" vinyl for the European market, licensed the rights to the extended play through an existing deal with Doghouse Records. Defiance Records' compact disc and 12" vinyl editions were released a day earlier than the American one, on May 27, 2002.
Promotion