All Time Low

The day of the emotional emo may have passed and with the hipsters now in full cast, some may say that punk rock is dead! Truth be told there is much more to be heard from this genre, it may not be in the public eye of late, if anything it has continued to gain followers. Pop Punk American band ALL TIME LOW who has more than two and a half million likes on Facebook, recently released their 5th studio album ‘Don’t Panic’. After a few average albums and a swap in record labels, the fellas seem to be back in form with a release which hopefully will bring them success similar to hit ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’ from album ‘So Wrong, It’s Right’ of 2007.

It all starts with a bit of ‘The Reckless and the Brave’ a typical power chord driven number with expected nasal tones from lead singer Alex Gathkarth. A quality choice for the opening song, likely to be pleasing for fans as it rolls out lifting hits which crowds/individuals would enjoy moshing to at a show or in their bedrooms. The lads need to be complimented for their smart witty lyrics particularly in song ‘If These Sheets Were States’ comparing a long distance relationship to the sheets of a bed. Someone was missing his girl on the light bulb day of this songs birth.

‘So Long Soldier’ shares beats per minute which is whiplash worthy, giving drummer Rian Dawson a workout, he won’t need to visit the gym after performing this ode. Something for those who like the heavier hits and head banging worship. Gotta’ love some teen angst from ‘The Irony of Choking on A Lifesaver’, where would this music be without connecting to an angry adolescent complaining about the trials and tribulations of life. A few tracks of the album are a bit carbon copy cliché including ‘To Live and Let Go’, ‘Thanks To You’ and even pre release ‘Outlines.’ Current single ‘Baltimore’ takes it a step down beginning with some acoustic guitar and breezy harmonies before launching into raucous hard-edged rebellion. This track could well be the winning track of the album.

The LP as an entirety proves difficult to differentiate, especially between tracks, with similar hooks, yelling repeat vocal parts and callous choruses. If this type of music is your cup of tea and you like to blare it loud with the windows down, then surely you’ll fall in love the boppy raucous tones of ‘Don’t Panic.’ Harsh it would be to say it’s a boring production, maybe more polite to say it’s predictable, but that is what you get generally with pop punk.

All Time Low tour Australia nationally next year as a part of the bill for Soundwave 2013. For early bird Perthites lucky enough to grab tickets, they can see the band at the sold out festival March 3rd, plus acts like Metallica, Blink 182, Linkin Park, The Offspring, Paramore and many more.