ALL TIME LOW’s So Wrong, It’s Right
It’s an interesting tale how All Time Low and I got together.
Imagine me sitting in the parking lot of a Target listening to “Coffee Shop Soundtrack” over and over on my car stereo. It’s off 2006’s Warped Tour Soundtrack. And every time I hear it, it covinces me more and more…Hold on.
Back up 32 hours. I’m at Target staring at their “Red Room” section where they sell a ton of awesome “new” artists for $9.99. And I’m a fan of the physical disc so that’s how I roll. I grab All Time Low’s So Wrong, It’s Right and carry it around the store for a half hour wondering if I should buy it going only off the fact that Earshot Media promotes them.
So I end up putting it down and walking the length of the Irvine Spectrum Mall to the Barns and Noble with the intention of listening to them and then possibly heading back over to Target. And of course, it’s no where to be found at B&N. Lame.
So back to me being a creeper in my beat up Honda. I decide that if I can be so in love with one song, the new album is worth my Hamilton. So I give this band a shot at love.
But my first couple listens though I’m distracted and not really paying attention. Letting the disc spin, it goes through one ear and out the other. Until a couple of days ago when iTunes is playing my recently added tracks and “Remembering Sunday” is just finishing.
The unexpected, twisted, sick desperation of All Time Lows’ vocals and those of Juliet Simms (Automatic Loveletter) makes my hair stand on end. It’s tugging on my shirt and screaming in my face. I can’t get over the passion in this song. It builds and swells steadily until it explodes into a ravaging accosting beauty.
So now I approach the whole cd with a new attitude of reverence and anticipation. On this more enlightened listen-through I discover a greater appreaciation for some of the other tracks.
The vocals are melodic with tight harmonies that are powerpop/pop-punk. “Dear Maria, Count Me In” is on the pop-punk side whereas “The Beach” is pure pop. Their lyrics are hopeful and nostalgic, the kinda any budding youth can adore. At their worst, they sound like a Boys Like Girls with more talent. At their best, like on “This is How We Do” they remind me of Sticks and Stones New Found Glory with Set-Your-Goals-gone-pop gang background vocals. The song “Vegas” could be found on the Ocean Avenue discography if Ryan Key´s vocals were more like Jonathan Cook from Forever the Sickest Kids. That’s a huge compliment, boys.
So it wasn’t love at first sight, but we’re getting pretty serious and there are good things in our future. I promise I’ll see you soon 😉
Stay Savage.
Steph
