Spirit Weak

### *A pleasure to have in class.*

*Spirit Weak* is the seventh studio album by *The Dropouts,* released on October 14th, 2003. It is widely regarded as both the most important album by *The Dropouts*, and many consider it to be one of their best. The album pushes an entirely new sound for the band, leaning more into alternative rock rather than their usual ska sound, with the hiatus they had a chance to push their new sound after so long, with only one song on the album using the ska sound they used to be known for, and even that one uses the heavier and more intense version of it, also found on the song *I Know You To Well..* from their previous album. The album also serves as the official reunion of the original lineup, after *You Know Us Too Well* introduced new band members who didn't end up staying with the band.

The album revitalized the band, skyrocketing them into popularity and the mainstream, receiving much more success from this album alone than they had gotten from their original run. This was the first album to get a full official tour, playing in stadiums across America. The album is about Nick Barnett's high school years, and growing up in a small town like Nick did, not being popular, losing and making friends, and trying to get the popular girl that's way out of your league. The high school setting spoke to teenagers and let adults reminisce as the band hit the perfect point of a personal story, but one with just enough detail and quirks to make it one that anybody could relate to.

## The Second Hiatus

After the mixed response to the first attempt to bring *The Dropouts* back with *You Know Us Too Well,* the decision was made to put the band back on hiatus, with Nick Barnett instead forming the band *California Kids* with the band members who were brought on for *You Know Us Too Well.* After releasing their first album, *The Wild Sea*, Nick Barnett felt like he didn't really fit in with the band, as it leaned into radio friendly songs that were comedy based with nonsensical lyrics, and Nick Barnett far more enjoyed writing more personal and serious songs like he had done for albums like *Price For Popularity.* Nick's onstage personality also didn't fit well with the band, as he was much more rambunctious and moved around a lot more than the rest of the band, who's shows usually were more reliant on stage decorations and screens rather than the on stage talent to carry the show.

After *The Wild Sea* was released and their first tour finished, Nick Barnett made the decision to leave the band, and instead go back to *The Dropouts,* wanting to try again. Nick again reached out to the original lineup of *The Dropouts,* who were now working on their own careers, to reunite and make another album. The timing of Nick's new plan happened to line up well with everyone's schedules, with the idea to try one more album, and if it didn't go anywhere, *The Dropouts* name would be dropped forever, and the members including Nick Barnett, would move on.

Nick first starting out to his old bandmates near the end of 2001, right on the tail end of touring with *California Kids.* He had already expressed his want to go back to his roots and try another shot at *The Dropouts* to Chris O'Brian and the rest of the *California Kids* band, who all encouraged him to do it - as they agreed that Nick didn't fit quite well with the band and seemed like he was determined to do much more than a small comedy band. After finding relative success in their solo careers, both Scott Wilson and Nikki Brown thought it would be fun to get back together, willing to put their careers on hold for the time being. Jimmy Rodriguez happily accepted, according to him he would've joined for *You Know Us Too Well,* but had family issues that were taking up his time. Nathan Taylor agreed to both produce and return for the album, signing *The Dropouts* back to *Make Believe Records.*

 The signing of the band eventually got leaked, although all the public could figure out was that the record company had resigned a band they used to have on, which started rumors of a real reunion of *The Dropouts,* knowing that it was Nathan Taylor's company.

## Planning Stages

After signing back onto *Make Believe Records,* pre-production officially started on *Spirit Weak,* in April 2002. Nick Barnett had already decided the project would be more personal than the last attempt at a reunion, opting to focus the album around Nick's time in High School, relating the feeling he had of not fitting in with *California Kids* to the same way he felt in high school, while he was trying to get girls and be popular, but never was able to do either. The albums name was brought about by the Spirit Week his school would have every year leading up to the homecoming game, theming every day of the week around different subjects, having the students dress up to match said theme. Nick Barnett never really felt too much pride in his school, making him barely involve himself with Spirit Week, which is how the play on words soon became the title, *Spirit Weak.*

With the band's best interests in mind, Nick didn't want to make the album too personal like *Price For Popularity,* and not too general like *I H8 U 2* was. He knew they were looking for a perfect balance of the two, and the decision was made to stretch the tracklist out to 16 songs rather than the normal 10, allowing them to have more time to delve into the themes and ideas of the album.

Almost all of the songs on the album were inspired by Nick Barnett's time in high school, having written many of the songs himself or at least drafting them, the songs he didn't write were based on suggestions he made, often giving his bandmates topics based on his time in high school like throwing away the perfect opportunity to ask his crush out, seen in the song *Perfect Situation.* After they figured out the basic themes of the album, they moved into production, finishing songs up and beginning recording sessions, doing their best to keep the album under wraps until they were ready to reveal it.

## Production

*Spirit Weak* officially entered production on June 10th, 2002. The songs were finished and the tracklist finalized, starting recordings that week. The band wanted to make sure they took as long as they needed to on the album, instead of rushing it out, they wanted the album to be the best it could, with hopes of either revitalizing the band or just ending with a bang with the original line up, rather than having *You Know Us Too Well* be the last album with an entirely different line up.

Finishing the songs, Nick Barnett finished last, writing the songs *Awkward, Friend Of A Friend, Clever Girl, Fake Smiles and Nervous Laughter, I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving, Freak Me Out, Bromeo/Always Good, Hundo Pos, Pardon Me* and finally *This December,* writing 10 out of the 16 songs featured on the album.

Scott Wilson returns as co-writer, writing the songs *Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Take Me Out,* and *She's Not The End Of The World,* the last of which is the only song on the album that uses the Ska sound that the band was mostly known for after their last 6 albums.

Finally, *Perfect Situation, Freak Me Out, This Is Such A Pity,* and *The Only Thing That Matters* were written by Nikki Brown and Nathan Taylor, adhearing to notes and suggestions Nick Barnett had made.

Jimmy Rodriguez took a step back from writing once again, happy enough to just play along with the band, excited to see what his friends would create, respecting all of them and their work as writers. Nick Barnett besides being the main writer also oversaw all the songs, including the ones written by Nick Barnett, getting writing credit on the entire album.

Nathan Taylor shows his growth in production on this album compared to *Here's To You,* with the years of experience he had in between the two shaping his skills and upping the production on the album. To make sure that the album would come out great, Nathan brought on his friend Cory Rosenstock to be a co-producer, as Cory had been producing much longer than Nathan, and was recently hired as another producer for *Make Believe Records.* Together the pair made sure that all the songs flowed well into each other and the different styles complimented each other well.

Nick Barnett had wanted the album to lean away from the ska sound, feeling like he had gotten stuck in the genre, with it taking up most of the songs on all of the band's previous albums, making sure that none of the songs he wrote for the album were in the style, wanting to explore creatively, leading to the only song in the style being *She's Not The End Of The World,* which was kept for the big band sing along style that Scott Wilson had wrote it in, specifically to try and spice up the genre, knowing that Nick didn't want to be stuck to it anymore. The album crafts the new style *The Dropouts* are known for, being loud alternative/punk rock, with screaming and raw vocals, that you can feel the emotion in, with Nick Barnett getting tired of begin radio friendly, and wanting the band to express itself however they wanted. This mindset also lead into the on stage personality the band has taken on and is famous for today, loud rambunctious delinquents who make the stage their own, powering the room with the amount of energy they have when playing their songs.

The songs on the album aren't afraid to mix up production styles either, with Cory and Nathan showing their skills by being able to balance it out, with songs like *Are You Gonna Be My Girl* having a purposely more rough production, keeping in things like Nick clearing his throat at the start of the song, lending itself to the lyrics and style of the song, while songs like *This Is Such A Pity* being inspired by 80's pop with a darker twist, and the production leaning into the style with synths and keyboards being used a lot, balancing the album out with other songs like *Freak Me Out* and *Pardon Me.*

## The Road to *Spirit Weak*

Wanting a big comeback, the band started a small marketing campaign, leaving signs up around New York and LA, advertising *Spirit Weak,* the signs featured an empty high school gym after a pep rally, with the date 9/28/02 written in classic high school football font. The date was the release date for the first single of the album, but the signs offered little context besides a website at the bottom named *Awkward.com*

The website contained a countdown to 9/28, playing instrumentals to different songs by *The Dropouts,* hinting at the comeback of the band. The instrumentals played on the website included *Dope Nose,* *I'm Cool, Don't Start A Band, In Too Deep, She's Famous Now, Where Have You Been?, Really?, El Scorcho, (Bye) Nikki (Bye),* and *My Own Worst Enemy.* The instrumentals would play on shuffle as the website counted down, while between songs little hints of the first single for *Spirit Weak, Awkward,* would play. These little hints make up the beginning of the song, where the radio tunes to different stations, the easiest thing to understand from it being "Kids get in free!".

The website started up a good bit of rumors and excitement, with many fans immediately recognizing the instrumental tracks to some of the most popular songs by *The Dropouts,* along with the leak of the band resigned to *Make Believe Records,* fans were ready for the reunion of the original band, with high hopes as people tried to decode and put together the hints of the new song before it was released.

Finally, on September 28th, 2002 - the same day as Nick's old high school's homecoming game, the first single for *Spirit Weak* was released, that being the opener to the album, *Awkward.* The song was released with a downloadable link, found on the website promoted on the posters that were leading to this day, as well as the song getting a music video release, using actors and actresses that looked like younger versions of *The Dropouts* line up performing the song for their high school talent show, shocking the judges when they proudly sing out lines like "I take a xanax every morning for anxiety" and "I'll probably end up fucking up and making you feel awkward", prompting the teachers to try and shut down the performance that's on stage in front of many parents and their kids, but the band on stage's friends, played by young actors that looked like former band members Chris O'Brian, Alex Kuzmack, and Miles Gonzalez as well as others who looked like Kasey Williams, Jeremy Hunter, and Chrisitan Germain, serve as guards to stop the teachers and adults as the kids finish their song, hard cutting to all of them celebrating in detention afterwords.

The single released to universal praise, critics and fans alike loved the song, praising it's relatable lyrics, either if you were the kid partying at those high school parties you shouldn't have been at, or if you were just an awkward kid trying to build up the courage to talk to your crush. Many people also enjoyed the new sound the song brought to the table, with some describing it as the sound they liked from *My Own Worst Enemy,* but without the pop influences, and rather the band's own personality shining through it.

The next day, the band performed the single live, back on the *Talkie McTalkerson Show,* where they confirmed the rumor of the entire original line up returning, as the music video didn't show any of the actual band members, leaving the room for speculation until their performance on the show. They confirmed the album would be coming out in 2003, as well as announced the name *Spirit Weak.* The main criticism with the single was that it was released very early relative to the release date of the album, but the main reason was the band was too excited not to share anything from the album, and wanted to let their fans know that they were back. The song blew up as well, pushing the band towards mainstream popularity.

The second single to be released for *Spirit Weak* was the song *Take Me Out*, released on January 22nd, 2003. The song was debuted at a Kasey Williams concert, where the band opened up for her, referencing when they came out to perform *I Know You Too Well..* for *You Know Us Too Well.* The band chose *Take Me Out*, as it was the closest to Kasey's style, wanting to try and invite some of her fanbase to check out the new album. After the performance, the single was released the same day, available everywhere as well as selling physical versions that featured both *Take Me Out* and *Awkward.*

*Take Me Out* released as a smash hit, blowing up practically as big as *Dope Nose* had, generating hype for *Spirit Weak* more than the band was ever expecting. Many enjoyed the catchy guitar riffs and simple lyrics that made the song easy to sing along to. The song performed incredibly well, reaching number one on the charts for 3 weeks straight, making *The Dropouts* a household name. With the fear of becoming a one hit wonder like with *Dope Nose,* the band made sure to put extra work into the remaining songs, wanting the entire album to be on the level of *Take Me Out,* starting off strong with *Awkward* before it, it seemed like they were releasing hit after hit. *Take Me Out* later received a music video, which featured the band in 80s style hair and makeup, with suits and dresses on as they performed the song at a high school homecoming dance, which is perceived to be when the album would take place. The song gets a choreographed dance that they had made for the video, featuring all 5 members lined up and dancing, holding their instruments, while Nikki used a keytaur and Jimmy used a snare drum slung around his shoulders. The single was able to get the general public excited for *Spirit Weak,* even lifting the ratings of *Awkward* as a side effect.

The third single released was *I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving*, introducing everyone to the newer sound of *The Dropouts,* which alongside the other two singles offered lots of variation for the album, leading critics and fans to praise the song, as well as the oddly specific lyrics it offered along with it. While the single didn't get quite as big as the last two, it did well enough to keep promising more for the future album, this single released on March 2nd, 2003. An interesting fact was that one line was eventually changed on the final release of the album, that being "Whenever I'm freaking out I keep the thought of the cast of Friends real close to my head, it's not absurd to say that 10 goddamn seasons is the longest friendship I've ever had," which originally said "9 goddamn seasons", because Season 10 of Friends had not come out when the single was released, but was airing by the time the album came out.

Breaking the tradition of 3 singles for the band, *Spirit Weak* got two more singles, the fourth of which being *Perfect Situation,* debuting again on the *Talkie McTalkerson Show* on July 24th, 2003, where they revealed the cover art for the album and the planned October release date, moving back to the time frame they used to release albums in for their comeback album. The single was again met with praise, rising up with *Take Me Out* and *Awkward,* being another very popular single, calming the band's fears of *Take Me Out* becoming a one hit wonder, when the rest of the album was able to carry itself as well. *Perfect Situation* became a hit, many enjoying the chorus of "woahs", which easily allowed for crowd interactions, the performance on *Talkie McTalkerson* even starting with Nick Barnett teaching it to the crowd and asking them to sing along with them. It, along with *Take Me Out* were also among the few clean songs that could be played at high school dances and shows.

The final single released for *Spirit Weak* was *Clever Girl,* a song revolving around Nick's childhood friend who (upon reflection) was a bad influence on Nick, but how when he was a kid he wanted to be just like him. The song released on September 30th, 2003, getting the public ready for the release of the full album. Many people related to the lyrics Nick had written, even without the bad influence part, just the feeling of looking up to somebody you thought was cool spoke to a lot of people, many describing the song as nostalgic in a weird way. Fans became more acquainted with the band's new style, falling in love with the song, and having it become a fan favorite. With 5 singles out, the band shifted more into promoting and marketing the album, something they hadn't done much with their previous releases, but with the mainstream success of half of the singles, they felt the need too - feeling like *Spirit Weak* was going to truly be something special.

Over the last few weeks before the release of the album, the band shared old photos from their high school years, signing up on MySpace when it was just released as a way to interact with their fans, posting their photos there as well as short sneak peeks at some more of the songs on the album. To promote the album, they had high schools invite them to perform for assemblies and other school dances, performing either their clean songs or censored versions of their other songs. It all lead up to October 14th, when the album dropped, with a midnight release party being thrown the night before, where at midnight the band performed the entire album live, from the beginning to end.

## Reception

*Spirit Weak* released on October 14th, 2003 to universal fanfare, critics praised the album for it's sense of unity while balancing the different styles of music from song to song, as well as the feeling the album gave - putting you in the shoes of an insecure teenager who was dealing with love problems and trying to be popular and get the girl. The album did very well with high schoolers who found the album very relatable, many thanking the band for helping them get through their high school years. Fans loved the album, it felt like *The Dropouts* were back and they came back with a bang, almost every single song on the album was memorable and spoke to many different high school stories and problems.

The album put *The Dropouts* into mainstream success, selling over 500,000 copies in it's first two months. The album had many songs played on radio stations across the country, as well as gaining overseas success in countries like Europe and Japan. The success of the album allowed the band to go on their first stadium headlining tour, going across the entire country as well as small tours in Europe and Japan.

The success of the album also prompted the band to release a few more music videos from the album, with the songs *Friend Of A Friend, Bromeo/Always Good, This Is Such A Pity,* and *This December* all getting music videos over the next year. The album has now gone platinum, still being one of the bands most popular albums of all time.

## *Spirit Weak Tour*

The success of the album gave the band the chance to go on a full on stadium and theater headlining tour, performing the entire album cover to cover at each show, along with a few hits from previous albums. After performing with *California Kids,* Nick Barnett liked the idea of the stage being decorated for the band, so for the *Spirit Weak Tour,* the stages were decorated to look like a high school hallway, with lockers being put up behind the band on stage, and other various decorations like signs promoting a Homecoming Dance and the lunch schedule. To start off shows, Nick Barnett would run out onto stage with a flag that had *Spirit Weak* written on it, lengthening the intro to the song *Awkward* as Nick got the crowd to chant *Spirit Weak* along with him, with the rest of the band walking out onto stage with backpacks and textbooks, until the song officially started when Nick would hang up the flag in a spot where an American flag would normally go.

Many of the shows on the tour would also often end with the song *Fifteen Minutes*, used as an encore. The song was written for *Spirit Weak,* but didn't make it onto the final tracklist so it was included for the tour as a small little easter egg. The song would later be put onto the deluxe version of *Spirit Weak,* and then again on the album *Disillusion Land,* although the version on the later album is much different. The tour opened the band up to the success of the album, they knew it had sold well but seeing so many people lined up to see them really hammered it home. Along with the stadium shows, the band would also stop at local high schools to play smaller shows, prompting schools to have to give out permission slips so that they could play their songs uncensored. Playing at schools made the album feel more in touch with it's subject matter, and the age range it was about.

The band also was invited to headline at the New Year's show in 2003, a big moment for the band who had only performed as openers or guests to other musicians at New Years, but now have their entire own show to put on, performing the entirety of *Spirit Weak* and a few other songs, inviting Kasey Williams to perform *I Know You Too Well..* and Ali Zehbra from *Zebrahead* to perform *Unity.*

 Overall, the tour was a complete success, easily making up the money it cost to go on the tour, and letting the band travel across seas as well, seeing themselves become a global sensation.

## The Legacy of *Spirit Weak*

*Spirit Weak* really defined what *The Dropouts* were, shaping them out of the weird unsure limbo they were in during their original 5 album run, as well as the attempted come back with their 6th album. Many iconic songs and symbols that are still related with the band today came from *Spirit Weak.*

Nick Barnett's yellow guitar, colored to look like a pencil was introduced for this album, matching the school subject matter the album dealt with. The guitar was specially made for Nick, who commissioned it after his guitar broke while recording for *Spirit Weak.* The guitar became so iconic that Nick still uses it today, and is always depicted with it in fan art and other forms of media.

The bands onstage personality was also very much determined by the shows leading up to *Spirit Weak,* and especially the *Spirit Weak Tour.* The shows often ended with the band "destroying" the set that was made on stage, (it was built in such a way to be destroyed at the end of each show), and jumping around with high and extreme energy during every one of their songs. Nick Barnett even almost broke through the floor of the stage at one of the shows they played at a local high school from performing so haphazardly, but the energy got the crowd going and his bandmates shared the same energy with him. The band is still known for their on stage presence, many saying that you have to see the band live at least once in your life, and that they are just as good live as they are on their albums.

The album also cemented their new style, getting the band known for their alternative rock and punk rock sound, with their old ska sound being more of a secondary style in most of their albums following the release of *Spirit Weak,* as it was the first album to become so mainstream. Their writing style was also cemented with this album, letting their following albums all have a personal and emotional core to them, as well as a reliability that everyone found endearing. They were underdogs writing about underdogs, but they fulfilled the underdog dream and won, becoming number one.

## Tracklist

1. *Awkward -* Written by Nick Barnett
2. *Friend of a Friend -* Written by Nick Barnett
3. *Are You Gonna Be My Girl -* Written by Scott Wilson and Nick Barnett
4. *Take Me Out -* Written by Scott Wilson and Nick Barnett
5. *Perfect Situation -* Written by Nikki Brown, Nathan Taylor, and Nick Barnett
6. *Clever Girl -* Written by Nick Barnett
7. *Fake Smiles and Nervous Laughter -* Written by Nick Barnett
8. *I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving -* Written by Nick Barnett
9. *She's Not The End Of The World -* Written by Scott Wilson and Nick Barnett
10. *Freak Me Out -* Written by Nick Barnett
11. *Bromeo/Always Good -* Written by Nick Barnett
12. *Hundo Pos -* Written by Nick Barnett
13. *This Is Such A Pity -* Written by Nikki Brown, Nathan Taylor, and Nick Barnett
14. *Pardon Me -* Written by Nick Barnett
15. *The Only Thing That Matters -* Written by Nikki Brown, Nathan Taylor, and Nick Barnett
16. *This December -* Written by Nick Barnett

## Fun Facts

- *Awkward* was later used as the lead single for a movie who shared a title with the song.

- Many songs of *Spirit Weak* were played during high school dances and events following the release of the album, with many knowing how relatable it was to teenagers.

- The success of *Spirit Weak* was able to bring the band back and keep them together, revitalizing their style, attitude, and state of mind. Scott and Nikki's solo careers stayed on hold, as they wanted to stay together and continue *The Dropouts.*

- The original album cover for *Spirit Weak* had to be edited because the photo used for the background was used without permission, it being a photo of Nick's old high school that he had taken a long time ago, he believes he had fair use over it, but rather than fight just changed it to a photo from Scott's school, as well as having some of the colors changed to make it easier to read.

- *Take Me Out* is still one of the most popular songs by the band to this day, but the band has made an impressive discography since *Spirit Weak,* holding the song back from becoming too much like *Dope Nose* did when they only had one album out.

- *Spirit Weak* is regarded as the best album by *The Dropouts,* having them at the top of the game for all the album had to do for the band. It is also in every members Top 5 favorite albums by them, including future members and previous members.

- *Spirit Weak* is one of the few albums to get anniversary shows whenever it rolls around, celebrating it's success and popularity by playing the album all the way through once more. These shows usually don't include *Fifteen Minutes,* but occasionally will use it as an encore.