Dropout Year

Sun Reporter

August 3, 2006

Hometown: Owings Mills

Current members: Adam Henderson, vocals and bass guitar; Brandon Reter, guitar and vocals; Adam Goodman, guitar and vocals; Justin Childers, drums

Founded in: 2003

Style: pop punk/alternative/rock

Influenced by: the Starting Line, Butch Walker, Brand New, the Beatles

Notable: The band spent about a month recording its new EP, Seven Unreturned Phone Calls. Band members said they've matured noticeably since their first EP, and it's evident on the new one. The CD release party is tomorrow.

Quotable: "I think this record is what's going to make us stand out from a lot of bands in Maryland right now," Henderson said. "Before, we were writing about the same things as everybody else. This record is pretty raw, it's pretty vivid in detail. We say some things on this record that some people are really scared to talk about. Some people don't want to talk about the dark side of things. We shine a light on that."

For more information about the band, visit myspace.com/dropoutyear.

[Sam Sessa]

sam.sessa@baltsun.com