Something Corporate - Played In Space: The Best of Something Corporate (2010)

Something Corporate only released two albums before taking a break in 2004, with Andrew McMahon all but sealing the band’s demise by forming Jack’s Mannequin a few months later. Of the 26 songs that filled those records -- as well as the three tunes that appeared on the Audioboxer EP and didn’t make it onto a later album -- 14 are represented here, including all four of the band’s singles and a smattering of fan favorites. It’s a solid list, but Played in Space still feels a bit unnecessary, as it draws almost all of its material from a three-year period. What this compilation does do well is assemble some hard to find material onto one bonus disc. “Konstantine,” played at virtually every Something Corporate show but only available on the Japanese import Songs for Silent Movies, leads off the second disc, which also includes bonus tracks from the British version of North and a remixed version of “I Woke Up in a Car.” Played in Space was released in tandem with a brief Something Corporate reunion (which found the band playing a handful of shows in 2010), and perhaps its greatest asset is the inclusion of the only song recorded by the reunited lineup: a new version of “Wait,” previously available in its original form on the Galaxy Sessions EP, and presented here as a mature bookend to a short, tuneful career.