EastScene

When All Time Low came bursting onto the scene a few years back, they brought with them a certain charisma and sincere charm, helping to throw them into the forefront of the current pop-rock scene. Since banding together as brothers of electrocuted emo and pumped-up punk in 2003, All Time Low have brought forth their third studio album, titled Nothing Personal, the biblical equivalent to a musical Book of Partying, Falling in Love, and Gossiping Groupies. It’s Nothing Personal, but it sure as hell sounds like it was for Alex, Jack, Zack and Rian. Let’s dive into the music, shall we?

The album kicks off with “Weightless,” a furious homage to optimism, built on a catchy tune and memorable lyrics. The duration of the album bears a similar sound, not straying far away from their signature upbeat punch of pop. “Break Your Little Heart” comes to save the single-sickness day with a fresh chorus that’ll keep you singing the line “laughing all the way to the hospital”. “Damned If You Don’t” follows, allowing the songs to flow together to mold the makings of a solid sophomore record to their label debut, So Wrong, It’s Right. Make room for “Stella” too, a track reminiscent of SWIRI’s “Holly”. It’ll catch your ears before most of the other jumpy tracks.

All Time Low break it down and slow it up towards the last half of the album, offering the heart-felt ballad “Too Much”. The final track, and arguably the band’s best one, is the goosebump-inducing “Therapy,” featuring Alex Gaskarth’s most promising delivery of vocals to date. If you’ve ever doubted their abilities, skip to the end and bask in the sweet timbre of an un-vocoded voice.

While Nothing Personal is a solid album throughout and showcases growth in the maturity and musicianship within All Time Low, the CD is missing that little oomph of stand-out material. Maybe it’s the substance in their lyrics or the current slew of pop-punk acts whom they have to contend with. Regardless, the boys will surely come to find themselves, as this album is a test of their sustainability and relevance in today’s popband-eat-popband scene, which they’ve passed. But for crying out loud, let the boy sing. Gaskarth can do fine on his own without all the digital touching up and auto-tune. This ain’t no grade 12 music creation class! Whether this album will break All Time Low through to the mainstream is uncertain at this point. They’ll need to wait for 3OH!3 to cool off a little, at the very least. They have the auditory goods, but just need to fashion them into a more cohesive package.

Final Score: 7.5/10

All Time Low is:

Alex Gaskarth-Guitar/Vocals

Jack Barakat-Guitar/Backing Vocals

Rian Dawson-Drums

Zack Merrick-Bass/Backing Vocals

Produced By:

Matt Squire, Butch Walker, David Bendeth, S*A*M & Sluggo and The Dream.

For Fans Of: Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Paramore