BIOGRAPHY
Put aside the usual pigeonholes, things like style and genre classifications - it takes much more for a band to really make a personal connection with people. Yellowcard understand this. The Ventura-based punk quintet (by way of Jacksonville, Florida), have made that direct musical connection in each of the hundreds of shows they've played at all-ages punk nights, rock dives, school events, suburban VFW halls, living rooms, back yards and any of the other places they play over 200 nights a year. It's a mature insight for five young guys who don't take themselves too seriously, but then Yellowcard - Ryan Key, 23 (vocals, guitars); Sean Mackin, 24 (violin, vocals); Benjamin Harper, 22 (guitar); Longineu Parsons III, 23 (drums); and Pete Mosely, 24 (bass, vocals) - aren't your typical young punk band -- starting with the classically-trained violinist in their ranks. And they've now created a powderkeg of affecting, personal and explosive rock on their new album, Ocean Avenue.

Yellowcard formed in 1997 but quickly made some lineup changes. Current singer Ryan Key was friends with most of the band from their high school days in Jacksonville, Florida. He and Sean Mackin, in particular, were close friends and both enrolled at Florida State University after graduating.

Key dropped out of college after only half a year, moving to Santa Cruz to follow his heart and make music. He played with a couple of punk bands in California and Florida but nothing really stuck. Yellowcard guitarist Ben Harper saw one of Key's band practices and quickly extended an invitation to him to jam with the rest of the band - as luck would have it, they had jettisoned their current singer and were looking for a replacement.

"We started playing some songs I had written," remembers Key, "and it all just clicked. Sean and I had always been really tight and I had a good relationship with the rest of the guys. It just seemed to work very naturally somehow."

Yellowcard were now a complete band and Key convinced the band that they needed to move from Florida to Southern California to have a real shot of catching their aspirations. They would move to Ventura County and quickly find their collective voice together, playing many of the songs Key wrote on his own before joining the group. Most of these were recorded on their debut album, One For The Kids (Lobster Records), released in 2001, and the 2002 follow-up, The Underdog EP (Fueled By Ramen Records). Both releases received favorable reviews and genuine buzz, particularly for the group's upbeat, honest music.

Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard's debut for Capitol Records, was produced by Neal Avron and mixed by Tom-Lord-Alge. On the album, themes of self-empowerment and self-awareness reveal themselves throughout the 13 songs on tracks like "Believe" and "Inside Out." And there is a conspicuous lack of irony or sarcasm