Acceptance is an American
pop punk
Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
band from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
, formed in 1998. They released their first
EP, ''Lost for Words'', in 2000, followed by ''Black Lines to Battlefields'' in 2003 (this EP was also re-released with live bonus tracks). Their debut album, ''
Phantoms'', was released in 2005.
On January 26, 2015, it was announced that Acceptance had reunited. They released their first song in over ten years called "Take You Away" on May 8, 2015. A second studio album, titled ''Colliding by Design'', was released in 2017, followed by ''Wild, Free'' in 2020.
History
Early years, debut album and break-up (1998–2006)
The band toured nationally and shared stages with the likes of
The Juliana Theory
The Juliana Theory is an American emo and Rock music, rock duo from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Greensburg and Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Latrobe, Pennsylvania. They signed to Tooth & Nail Records, and later to Epic Records for the release of the albu ...
,
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida, in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, ...
,
Finch
The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...
,
Further Seems Forever
Further Seems Forever is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their f ...
, and
Seether
Seether are a South African Rock music, rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion with ...
as well as performing successfully on the
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...
and
Cornerstone Festival
Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...
. When the band's debut record, ''
Lost for Words'' came out on Seattle indie label, Rocketstar Records, and quickly approached the 5,000 sales mark, the industry at large began taking notice. When the band recorded a new 5-song demo with
Aaron Sprinkle
Aaron Sprinkle (born March 20, 1974) is an American record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington.
Career
His career in music began in high school with a group called BellBangVilla. BellBangVilla became Poor Old Lu and they relea ...
, this industry interest turned into serious courting by several major labels. After putting a professional management team in place to help determine the band's course of action, the band signed to Sony-owned Columbia Records, who then released the ''
Black Lines To Battlefields'' EP (produced by Aaron Sprinkle) through
The Militia Group who had been a long-time supporter of the band and was distributed through Sony-owned Red Distribution at the time.
Acceptance later released their debut album ''Phantoms'' on Columbia Records in 2005, again produced by Aaron Sprinkle. The album was one of many included in the
Sony rootkit controversy due to its inclusion of the
Extended Copy Protection software.
On August 2, 2006, the band announced they were breaking up. Former guitarist Christian McAlhaney posted the following message on their site:
At the time of the band's breakup, they had already written and demoed songs for a new album. As a "going away" for fans, the band posted for free download from thei
Myspace pagethe demo for the previously unreleased track "Not Afraid".
Post-breakup (2006–2014)
Jason Vena was featured on the 2010 album "Vessels" by
Ivoryline
Ivoryline is an American Christian rock band from Tyler, Texas, formerly signed to Tooth & Nail Records.
History
Ivoryline formed in 2003 under the name Dead End Driveway, releasing an EP and an album under this name before changing the name t ...
on the song "The Healing", marking it his first major appearance since the breakup. In 2012, he featured on the new album ''Don't Panic'' from
All Time Low
All Time Low is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Towson, Maryland, in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson ...
on the song "Outlines".
Kaylan Cloyd has joined Ryan Van Wieringen and Bobby Darling of
Gatsbys American Dream to form Search/Rescue. The band released their debut album, titled ''The Compound'', in Japan in late 2007 with a US release in early 2008 on Eyeball Records.
Christian McAlhaney played guitar in
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida, in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, ...
until November 2014, when the band disbanded (though they have since reunited, and McAlhaney continues to play with them).
Nick Radovanovic, Christian McAlhaney, and Kyle Flynn started a band calle
Thunder Thunderwith Jerrod Bettis. Their current status is unknown due to McAlhaney's commitment with Anberlin.
Kyle Flynn currently resides in Los Angeles, CA and is working on a script with his brother
Kevin Flynn for Warner Bros. Pictures. It has recently been announced that he will be touring with Anberlin.
On May 30, 2009, Nick Radovanovic posted a remixed version of the song "So Contagious" on Acceptance's Myspace page. On Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Nick posted another demo the band had written before their breakup called "Desperate" and also a blog entitled "Hey guys, Nick here" inside the blog it said:
Just wanted to say hi to everyone and to let you know im throwing up an old acceptance demo we made a while ago titled "desperate". this was during our writing sessions for which was supposed to be our newest record. most of you know we never made it that far. again, this is just a rough demo so bear with the quality. hope you guys like it. take care everyone and thanks for all this support. nickrad
Reunion and ''Colliding by Design'' (2015–present)
On January 26, 2015, it was announced that Acceptance would be reuniting at Skate & Surf 2015 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Since the announcement of their reunion, the band has released a brand new song entitled "Take You Away", making it their first single to be released since their 2006 breakup.
On August 3, 2016 Acceptance announced they would be playing three Texas dates with
As Cities Burn & more on October 21 in Dallas at So What?! Music Fest in Deep Ellum, October 22 in Houston at Scout Bar, and October 23 in Austin at Dirty Dog Bar!
On November 30, 2016, Christian McAlhaney was interviewed for TheTalkhouse, where he elaborated on the band's demise in 2006. Factors contributing to Acceptance's breakup included their debut album, ''
Phantoms'', leaking 9 months early, being "strong-armed by
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
label into releasing a ballad as
'Phantomsfirst single",
spyware
Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's securit ...
being bundled with the album (as well as other releases by Columbia Records) and a lengthy court battle that resulted in ''Phantoms'' being permanently recalled.
Acceptance have announced they are recording a second studio album, ''Colliding by Design'', which is scheduled for a February 2017 release. A track from the album, "Diagram of a Simple Man", was released early to fans who backed the album financially via Pledge Music. On January 26, an official lyric video for the song "Haunted" was released on the Rise Records YouTube channel.
On May 17, 2019, Acceptance confirmed that they were working on and recording new material.
On June 10, 2020, Acceptance announced their new ''Wild'' EP would be released on July 24. On June 18, they released the song "Cold Air". The band released their third album, ''Wild, Free'' on October 2, which included all tracks from the ''Wild'' EP.
Musical style
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
biographer Neil Z. Yeung described the band's sound as "catchy melodies, big choruses, and arena-sized singalongs, incorporating a harder rock edge into their sound," reminiscent of
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach ...
,
the Juliana Theory
The Juliana Theory is an American emo and Rock music, rock duo from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Greensburg and Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Latrobe, Pennsylvania. They signed to Tooth & Nail Records, and later to Epic Records for the release of the albu ...
, and
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida, in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, ...
.
''Phantoms'' has been described as
pop punk
Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
fused with
alternative pop
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
,
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
,
emo
Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...
,
and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
.
Band members
Current members
* Jason Vena – lead vocals
(1998–2006, 2015–present), keyboards
(2000–2006, 2015–present), bass
(1998–2000)
* Kaylan Cloyd – lead guitar
(1998–2006, 2015–present)
* Garrett Lunceford – drums, percussion
(2000–2003, 2015–present)
* Christian McAlhaney – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
(2000–2006, 2015–present)
* Ryan Zwiefelhofer – bass
(2002–2006, 2015–present)
Former members
* Nick Radovanovic – drums, percussion
(2003–2006, 2015 (reunion shows))
* Peter Pizzuto – drums, percussion
(1998–2000)
* Chris DeCastro – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
(1998–2000)
* Christopher Camp – bass
(2000–2002)
Touring musicians
* Kyle Flynn – bass
(2006),
keyboards
(2005–2006)
;Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
*''
Phantoms'' (2005)
*''Colliding by Design'' (2017)
*''Wild, Free'' (2020)
References
External links
Official websiteAcceptanceat
Purevolume
PureVolume (formerly Unborn Media) was a website for uploading and streaming of music files, the first independently run of its type. PureVolume was created by Unborn Media, Inc; Mitchell Pavao; Brett Woitunski; and Nate Hudson, all from the Univer ...
Chat with Jason Vena post-Acceptanceat AbsolutePunk.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acceptance
Musical groups established in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2015
Pop punk groups from Washington (state)
Columbia Records artists
Musical groups from Seattle
1998 establishments in Washington (state)
Emo musical groups from Washington (state)