After stagnating somewhat on Interscope Records, Baltimore based pop punk quartet; All Time Low are back with a new album on new/old label Hopeless Records. With previous effort ‘Dirty Work’ not impressing as much as its two predecessors, ‘Don’t Panic’ feels like an album from a band that has a point to prove.
Opening things up is ‘The Reckless and The Brave’, which launches straight into an infectious chorus. The same goes for ‘If These Sheets Were States’, and all in all it’s a promising beginning froma band that takes a fair bit of stick. New single ‘Somewhere in Neverland’ is the type of song All Time Low do absolutely excellently. It’s a straight up pop punk ballad with massively catchy hooks and melodies. It’s up there with some of their best work and will go down as a sure fire fan favourite.
Up next is ‘So Long Soldier’, a song in which you can see the band go back to their older roots. It’s a pure pop punk jam with pacey drums and huge vocals. It’s almost an ode to their older fans and a song which shows that the band have nowhere near lost it. ‘To Live and Let Go’ is a song that just smashes you around the head repeatedly, and listening on headphones is an absolute mindfuck. It goes to show just how good the production on this album is. It’s expertly mastered and everything sounds brilliant.
Co-written by Patrick Stump, ‘Outlines’ really does sound as if it should be on a new Fall Out Boy record. It’s the type of song the band really should have written for ‘Dirty Work’, and an excellent set of vocals from Jason Vena of Acceptance makes this one of the best songs All Time Low have put to tape.
Going into the final run of songs, ‘Paint You Wings’ should be another live favourite, and ‘So Long, and Thanks for all the Booze’ is a suitable album ender.
All in all, this is the All Time Low album that should have been in place of ‘Dirty Work’. The influences that have gone into ‘Don’t Panic’ are worn on its sleeve – you can hear Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Yellowcard pulsating throughout – but what’s most important is that it never seems like a copy of any of those bands. This is a great pop punk album and All Time Low through and through.There is filler here – notably in ‘The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver’ – but it’s few and far between. People tend to forget that All Time Low are still an extremely young band. Their efforts trying to crack mainstream recognition didn’t quite work with ‘Dirty Work’, but ‘Don’t panic’ has made up for it tenfold, and shows that they’re still very much up there with the accessable pop punk bands that 2012 has to offer.
CHRIS MARSHMAN