You’d think the band’s increased popularity would result in a larger push from their label. It didn’t. Instead, Geffen somewhat cluelessly de-prioritized the album and, perhaps worst of all, never even serviced its anthemic first single, “Bedroom Talk,” to commercial radio.
“After the record came out, the label didn’t even murmur a word about it,” Vasoli says. “I think that sent us into a little bit of a depression. It just didn’t feel like we had a lot of people on our side.” Yet, where other bands might wallow in this or, worse yet, split up, the Starting Line began to think up a way out. First, instead of waiting for Geffen to come to their senses, they begged the label to let them out of their contract. Upon agreeing to do so, the Starting Line quickly signed to Virgin, after president Jason Flom took in one of their live shows, and stood stunned at the sight of 10,000 kids singing along with the band.
A few months later, the Starting Line began work on Direction, an album that they all agreed could be nothing short of their strongest work to date. For inspiration, Vasoli began looking to classic artists like Bob Dylan and James Brown. “I know that our album doesn’t sound like that,” the singer says, “but those guys would write songs that didn’t have a whole lot going on, but they still worked really well. I guess that I tried to adopt that mindset while writing these songs. I wanted to give people something that was three or four minutes long, and got to the point.”
That distinct approach can be heard throughout Direction, whether it’s in the wistful power-pop of “I Could Be Wrong” or the strutting hard rock on the album’s title track. Just as they did for a few tracks on Based On A True Story, the Starting Line decamped to Los Angeles to record the album with Howard Benson, a Grammy nominated producer who’s worked with everyone from My Chemical Romance to the All-American Rejects.
“I was really stoked when I heard the first batch of songs,” Benson says, now. “It was a huge leap in maturity and form for the band, and that’s what you look for in an artist, is that artistic growth. I knew we would make a great record.”While out west, the band also brought in Saosin vocalist Cove
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