The All-American Rejects have come a long way from the small-town birthday parties and private gigs that once filled their Stillwater, Okla., high school weekends. But near, far, wherever they are, it's unlikely the band will ever completely forget 'em.

"We once played the opening for 'Titanic.' The video. At Blockbuster," said Reject lead vocalist/bassist Tyson Ritter, punctuating the confession with an easygoing laugh and sarcastic "Hell, yeah!"

Four years after leaving, Ritter could still play semi-reluctant Stillwater tour guide.

"I'd recommend you go to Eskimo Joe's, which is this popular beer joint that apparently has the second-most-famous T-shirt in the U.S. That's a big claim to fame," Ritter said. "Then you could go see Garth Brooks' old house. He used to live in Stillwater."

Impressive.

"Hell, yeah, dude. We're top-shelf," Ritter said of his hometown.

The same might be said of the All-American Rejects' career trajectory since last summer.

The pop-punk band previously best known for its summery 2003 radio hit "Swing Swing" successfully beat back all chatter of a sophomore slump by moving more than 700,000 copies of second disc "Move Along." Sales since its July release have already eclipsed the Rejects' self-titled debut.

The disc's infectiously poppy first single "Dirty Little Secret" has proved a multiformat radio smash that refuses to die. After six months on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, a resurgent "Secret" climbed to No. 11 last week.

"I think this record has a long life ahead of it," said Ritter, his conversational Okie drawl still heartland laid back. "I hope so, anyway. Because I definitely don't wanna be going back to Blockbuster or anything."

Ritter and the rest of the All-American Rejects — guitarists Nick Wheeler and Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor — play a sold-out Pipeline Cafe gig tonight.

HAWAI'I TO OKLAHOMA

What's it like living in Hawai'i? How big is Hawai'i, really? Is it pretty laid back? Is everybody pretty cool? What do you like doing for fun?

Ritter seemed more inquisitive about his interviewer's home state and day-to-day-life than advancing the standard rock-star interview agenda.

We chatted some Reject history, for good measure. How Ritter and Wheeler left Stillwater for New York days after graduating from high school with only pocket money and no idea who might want to see them play. How they landed on a major label within a year, recorded their first album as a duo, and returned to Oklahoma to get Gaylor and Kennerty on board.

But Ritter was more into freestyling, subject-wise. Take returning home to Stillwater, for instance. It's unlikely he'll ever do it again.

"I went back for Christmas last year and it was a trip," said Ritter. "I was barely 18 when I left. I saw all of my acquaintances from high school again, and everybody was (expletive) up, wasted ... and just drinking their (expletive) off."

Particularly hard on Ritter was finding out his grade-school first crush was one of the burnouts.

"I was, like, 'You were a little girl! Where's your pigtails?' " Ritter said of the preacher's daughter's post-high-school life. "I'm not going back there. It was just too mind-blowing and frightening.

"I'm moving my whole family down to Florida one day. Man, I just want everybody to get the (expletive) out of Oklahoma."

Naturally, Ritter was way stoked that his parents enjoyed a recent visit to their son's new home in the Florida oceanside resort community of Destin.

"I totally pampered my parents, and they loved it," said Ritter, proudly. "It was the best thing in the world. I couldn't have written the fairy tale better."

CATCHY SONGS

If the All-American Rejects' debut and "Swing Swing" were all about matching bursts of melodic guitar verve with 11 hooky pop songs about the ups and downs of young love, then "Move Along" is, well, more of the same ... better written.

"I made sure I wrote about stuff I knew. That's the way it's been with everything. I'm not trying to be somebody I'm not," said Ritter. "I'm a southern boy from Oklahoma writing about love and loss. Nick comes from the school of '80s rock.

"We always just strive to write the catchiest song in the world. That's all it's about. It's not about cutting 20 layers deep."

Ritter and Wheeler wrote 29 songs for "Move Along," whittling the list down to a final dozen in the studio. Making matters a bit more nerve-wracking the second time out: Suits at the label demanding the album hit bigger than the band's debut, or else.

"It was easier this time because we didn't have to go to school," said Ritter, 21, laughing. "But it's harder because now this is your life. It's a kind of collision that happens when you actually realize that you're doing this to make it through another year."

Interscope seems happy with sales of "Move Along" so far. So since chances are good Ritter won't be helping anyone in Stillwater check out "Wedding Crashers" from Blockbuster Video anytime soon, we ended our chat with the topic of rock-star cliches.

LIFE IS GOOD

"Oh, man, that's a good one," said Ritter, instantly warming up to the subject. "Well, I bought a house. I don't own a car, though, because I'm kind of against them."

Got a supermodel girlfriend?

"OK, I do have a supermodel girlfriend. I'm a cliche. But she's (expletive) amazing!" gushed Ritter about his paramour, former Guess model and multimagazine covergirl Kim Smith.

"She's from Texas. We've been together three years. What the hell else do you want from life? Nothing. I could die tomorrow. But I'd have the biggest (expletive)-eatin' grin on my face when I go."

In other rock-star-cliche news: The band flew on a private jet ... once. And one Reject hires a masseuse every two weeks.

"We've had our taste of cliches (but) I think we've had the rock 'n' roll sampler," said Ritter, tongue-in-cheek philosophizing. "If we're just starting at this meal that is life, we've gotten the appetizers. And they're kind of a teaser for the entree."

Praised on his impromptu metaphor, Ritter laughed.

"It's not prose. But it's OK."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.