Cleveland emo quartet Brandtson was originally comprised of singer/guitarist Myk Porter, guitarist Matt Traxler, ba**ist John Sayre, and singer/drummer Jared Jolley. After appearing on Steadfast Records' Radiowaves and Gibberish various-artists compilation in 1997, the group signed with Deep Elm, contributing to the label samplers Records for the Working Cla** and A Million Miles Away: Emo Diaries, Vol. 2 before closing out 1998 with their debut full-length, Letterbox. The second Brandtson LP, Fallen Star Collection, followed in 1999 and the band's pop-tinged indie rock continued with Trying to Figure Each Other Out, released a year later. The EP d**h and Taxes was issued in January 2002, before the aggressive full-length Dial in Sounds appeared that summer, offering more harmonies and stronger melodies than previous efforts. A split with Camber and Seven Storey Mountain was also released in 2002. br /br /With their Deep Elm contract up, Brandtson signed with The Militia Group in 2004. Teaming up with producer Ed Rose for the fourth time, their label debut, Send Us a Signal, offered even more of the band's trademark melodic power pop and rock. Sayre decided to part ways with the group in July 2005, and he was soon replaced on ba** by another Clevelander, Adam Boose, who had been fronting the local synth rock band Furnace St. Starting work on album number five after their first lineup change in almost a decade, Brandtson looked to reinvigorate their sound, approaching the writing process from a different angle and embracing Boose's background in electronic music. The resulting experimental and dance-ready Hello, Control appeared next in May 2006. ~ Jason Ankeny & Corey Apar, All Music Guide