“We ended up winning on a fluke. We were horrible, but everybody [else] was pretty horrible too,” bassist Clutch said. But they won, and that’s all that matters.

The band started organizing and putting on their own shows, playing gigs for kids their age. A local club decided to give the band a chance and soon they were out of the garage and onto the stage.

Before long, Something Corporate were opening area shows for acts including Sugar Ray and Better Than Ezra. It was about time a record label took notice, and that’s exactly what happened. Drive-Thru signed the band and minted their EP, Audioboxer, in 2001.

Drive-Thru Records has long been associated with punk/indie bands. Something Corporate – with their piano-tinged pop tunes – wouldn’t normally be associated with a label like that.

“People who listen to radio songs tend to like our band because we write choruses with hooks, so we’ll always have a pop crowd,” frontman Andrew McMahon said. “But because of our association with Drive-Thru, maybe a kid who wouldn’t normally listen to a band like us might give it a shot and hear something they like.”

And Something Corporate are giving plenty of chances to give them a shot. They’ve been supporting New Found Glory on a Drive-Thru Records bill this fall and were earlier headlining their own outing.

Now, they have a brief, mostly West Coast run through the start of next year.