*From The Daily Northwestern - October 11, 2007*

Sunshine rock
Rooney breaks five-year hiatus with record, tour

At the turn of the century, five high school teenagers from Los Angeles formed a band over a common dream to bring back "real" rock music. After signing with Geffen Records in 2002, their self-titled debut album sold 400,000 copies. Yet for Rooney's band members, it was only the beginning.

Four years, three record attempts and numerous producers later, the pop-rock band - often compared to the likes of Weezer - released their second album Calling The World this July.

"We listened to a lot of the same influences for this album," drummer and backing vocalist Ned Brower says. "We worked with a lot of producers before we settled with John Fields and we made the record pretty [quickly] once we found [him]. We had a good connection. And from there it only took three or four weeks."

Fields, who has also produced for artists such as Andrew W.K. and Switchfoot, made use of Rooney's melodic songwriting and unique musicality for the band's sophomore album.

Brower says that while they made Rooney all at one time, it took the band multiple sessions until they were able to capture the sound they wanted for their follow-up record.

Calling The World incorporates much of the 1970s music influences found in their first album, though, according to Brower, their latest effort draws from a wider range of inspirations and music genres. Lead singer and guitarist Robert Schwartzman - actor/ex-Phantom Planet member Jason Schwartzman's younger brother - wrote a majority of the songs on the album and incorporated additional input from the other band members.

The track "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" has already begun to climb the Billboard Singles' Pop 100 chart. "We all really like 'I Should Have Been After You' because it pushed our boundaries forward, and we really tried to do some different things on that song," Brower says.

In the past, Rooney has hit the road with a wide range of artists including Fergie, Weezer, The Strokes, Incubus and OK Go. Their "Calling the World" U.S tour will begin Oct. 13 in Columbus, Ohio, and finish up in Europe. They're scheduled to perform at Chicago's Vic Theatre (3145 N. Sheffield Ave.) Oct. 17, playing alongside The Polyphonic Spree and The Redwalls. Brower says that fans should expect to hear new cover songs, as well as the revival of older material that wasn't in regular rotation on the set list.

"The upcoming tour is going to be hard work, but it's going to be great," he says.

Although Rooney's main focus is currently on the new record and upcoming tour, they continue to keep writing both on and off the road, as they begin to think about a third album.

But Brower says that although they are hoping that the new release continues to do well, Rooney does not want to take so much time in between the production of the two records.

Regardless of what plans the future has for them, he says that they have one goal that remains consistent: To produce great music.

"It is such a time for hip-hop, R&B, pop music, and weird but not necessarily 'pleasant to the ear'-sounding indie bands," Brower says. "I think we just want to encourage people to get into and support a rock band."

-Jaimie Vaillancourt