Smile for Them is the third studio album by American rock band Armor for Sleep, released on October 30, 2007 through Sire Records. Shortly after the release of their second studio album What to Do When You Are Dead (2005), the band were writing material for its follow-up. In early 2006, the band announced they had signed to Sire Records, recording demos not long after. At the end of the year, they started recording with Ben Grosse in California, but after a few months, the songs were scrapped. Recording restarted with Machine as producer, with sessions taking place at The Machine Shop in Weehawken, New Jersey and Loho Studios in New York City. Smile for Them is an emo and post-hardcore album, which recalling the works of Foo Fighters, the Smashing Pumpkins and Quicksand, that deals with celebrity culture.
Smile for Them received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom praised the production from Machine, while others found the songwriting to be uninspired. The album peaked at number 93 on the US Billboard 200, after selling 9,400 copies in its first week. "Williamsburg" was released as the lead single from Smile for Them in September 2007. Prior to the album's release, the band supported the Academy Is... on their tour, before playing a few headlining shows towards the end of the year. At the start of 2007, the band went on a co-headlining US tour with Saosin, which was followed by the release of the album's second single, "Hold the Door", in February 2008. They then went on the Bamboozle Roadshow tour for the next three months, appeared at the Bamboozle Left festival, and then trekked across the country as part of the Projekt Revolution in July and August 2008.
Background and production
Armor for Sleep released their second studio album What to Do When You Are Dead through Equal Vision Records in February 2005. It was promoted with two tours of the United States, leading up to an appearance on the 2005 Warped Tour. They recorded some material on their bus using Pro Tools while on the latter tour. Shortly after this, the band performed a new song, titled "The Way Out Is Broken". On January 12, 2006, the group released a demo of the song. The band had been reportedly working on the track for their third album, which was planned for release later in 2006. The following month, frontman Ben Jorgensen revealed that the band had their next album fully written and was planning to record it after current touring engagements had ended. On April 10, it was announced that the band had signed to Sire Records. In the same announcement, it was revealed that the group would not release an album until the following year. The band then recorded demos at a studio in New Jersey, before performing on the 2006 Warped Tour.
In December 2006, it was announced that the band were recording at Mix Room in Burbank, California with producer Ben Grosse. These sessions were arranged by Sire; the band were not content with the proceedings. They had done seven-to-eight songs over three months, before touring with Taking Back Sunday and Underoath in February and March 2007. Towards the end of the trek, Armor for Sleep opted to scrap what they had made up to that point and being again. More demos were recorded with Ryan Sellick at Northshore Studio in Ridgefield, Connecticut, with engineer Dan Scarzella. Smile for Them was recorded at The Machine Shop in Weehawken, New Jersey with producer Machine between April and June 2007. Drums were recorded at Loho Studios in New York City. Machine, Will Putney and Dan McLoughlin served as engineers throughout the sessions, while Putney and Sellick also handled additional tracking and drum editing. Machine mixed seven of the recordings; Neal Avron mixed the remaining songs. Ted Jensen then mastered the album at Sterling Sound in New York City.