In Remembrance: Reggie and the Full Effect
This better not be another joke, Reggie and the Full Effect.
Coming down from our recent exposé of Conor Oberst this week we’re going to be focusing on another lone musician, James Dewees the orchestrator of Reggie & The Full Effect. Formerly from The Get Up Kids and Coalesce, the Kansas City native and multi-instrumentalist was also the touring keyboardist for My Chemical Romance and New Found Glory as well as the drummer for post-hardcore outfit Leathermouth.
After years of touring with metalcore group Coalesce, Dewees eventually met and befriended fellow Kansas City rockers The Get Up Kids. After a show the two bands soon became quick friends and began touring together and released a split 7” together in 1998. Dewees then recorded keyboards for The Get Up Kids EP, Red Letter Day, afterwards becoming a permanent fixture in the band.
Shortly after joining the band, Dewees began writing material on his own. Initially intending to contribute this new material to the band’s upcoming album, Dewees soon realized that the styles didn’t really match up and it was at that time that he enlisted band mate Matt Pryor and Reggie & The Full Effect came into being.
Greatest Hits 1984-1987, the first album by Reggie & The Full Effect, was recorded in late 1998 and released in spring 1999. Utilizing their relationship with Coalesce and Second Nature Records, the album was released and distributed by them. While only receiving mediocre reviews, Vagrant Records who would release the remainder of Reggie’s albums, reissued the album in 2004 with newly included demos and bonus tracks.
In 2000, with Matt Pryor still a contributing member of the project, Reggie & The Full Effect released their second album, Promotional Copy. Like the last record, Promotional Copy was produced by Ed Rose (The Appleseed Cast, Motion City Soundtrack, and The Spill Canvas). Reviews for the album noted improvement, but only slight. It was during this album that some of Dewees’ jokester habits starting to become prevalent. Several tracks on the album say they feature artists like Fluxuation and Common Denominator, these, like Reggie, are all alter egos of Dewees himself. Additionally, due to the albums name, many record stores across the country mistook it to be an actual promotional copy and sent the album back to the distributor.
Reggie & The Full Effect’s third LP, Under The Tray… was released in early 2003. Once again under the guidance of Ed Rose, the album scored higher with critics than any of their previous efforts – eventually making it to #8 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. The real joke behind this album was its packaging; the cd itself was kept underneath the plastic tray which typically holds the cd in place, keeping it relatively hidden, hence the title.
The fourth album by Reggie & The Full Effect was released in 2004. Songs Not to Get Married To, while still featuring some of the joking and lighthearted nature of the past three LPs, was a much darker album than its predecessors. This is mainly credited to Dewees’ messy divorce with his ex-wife Megan which occurred shortly before the writing and recording of the album. This also marks the first album released in Matt Pryor’s absence.
The Get Up Kids broke up shortly after the release of Songs Not to Get Married To in 2005. Without having to spend most of his time touring and recording with The Get Up Kids, Dewees was able to focus more time on Reggie. During this period he also spent some time as a touring member of New Found Glory before touring as Reggie & The Full Effect with acts like, Hellogoodbye, My Chemical Romance, and Alkaline Trio.
Reggie & The Full Effect’s fifth and final LP, Last Stop: Crappy Town, was released after some apprehension in the summer of 2008, a full two years after its initial recording. The album was a continuation of the more depressing sentiments that emerged on Songs Not to Get Married To. In an interview following the albums release, Dewees described:
"Last Stop: Crappy Town isn't a record about the subway system in Brooklyn, it’s a record about the trains in Brooklyn I took to get to rehab everyday. The trains are basically metaphors that just happen to really exist, that's what I thought was so amazing about the idea."
The band announced via Myspace in 2008 that they would be embarking on a farewell tour and would not be recording any more albums. However, in response to fans disappointment that the tour would not include a stop in Kansas City, Dewees responded by saying that he too was upset, but hoped they would be able to stop there on a future tour – which questions whether or not the project’s impending breakup was actually a joke all along. It is also reported that at shows during the farewell tour Dewees was heard saying that it really was all just a ploy in order to bring bigger crowds.
Whether or not the farewell tour was serious, the fact remains that Reggie & The Full Effect has not been active since their final performance. Dewees has confirmed in interviews that he is currently working on a full-length album for another pseudonym of his, Fluxuation. He has also become involved with The Get Up Kids since their reunion in late 2008.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Nov 23, 2009 @ 9:00 am